Chinese Cemetreries Become Like Recreational Parks

JAKARTA, April 6 (Antara) - Deserted and scary on ordinary days, many Chinese public and family cemeteries in cities across Indonesia have since the last few days become much like recreational parks ahead of Qingming Festival. The Qingming Festival or Tomb-sweeping Day, also known widely in Indonesia as "Ceng Beng", falls on April 4 or 5 of the Gregorian calendar as a day of paying respect to the dead and other activities. Ceng Beng is a time of many different activities, including tomb sweeping which is regarded as the most important custom in the Qingming Festival. In the past few days, a multitude of Chinese across the country took the opportunity of the Qingming or Ceng Beng Festival to visit the graves of dead relatives to offer prayers. Bringing flowers, food offerings of the dead persons' favorite, and paper resembling money, the Chinese-Indonesian decedents flocked to cemeteries to pay their respects to the dead ancestors and to offer some prayers. Today, with cremation taking over from burying, the custom has been extremely simplified in cities with only flowers are presented to the dead relatives, but no matter how respect is shown, good prayers for the deceased are expressed. In Pangkalpinang, the Bangka-Belitung provincial city of predominantly Chinese ethnic community, around 3,000 Chinese people packed a number of cemeteries, including Sentosa cemetery. In previous years, more than 10 thousand Chinese people packed the graves of their relatives but this year the number dramatically declined to around 3,000 people. "We predict that many more Chinese will make devotional visits to the graves of their loved ones this time but the number is much less than that of the previous years," Sentosa tomb keeper Shan Qi remarked in Pangkalpinang on Wednesday. He said many other Chinese also visited the graves of their dead relatives on Monday and Tuesday. "Based on our experience of previous years, the number of people making devotional visits to cemeteries will reach the highest point after on April 4," Shan Qi said. According to him, thousands of Chinese pilgrims, not only from Pangkalpinang but also from other cities in Indonesia returned to their home villages on Bangka Island for the Ceng Beng Festival. The Qingming Festival for Chinese communities a form of respect and devotion to elders or ancestors who have died. It is an opportunity for them to remember and honor their ancestors at grave sites, where young and old pray for their ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food. The rites have a long tradition in Asia, especially among farmers. Some people carry willow branches with them on Qingming or put willow branches on their gates and/or front doors. They believe that willow branches help ward off the evil spirit that wanders on Qingming. On Qingming, people go on family outings, start the spring plowing, sing, and dance. It is also a time when young couples traditionally start courting. Another popular thing to do is to fly kites in the shapes of animals or characters from Chinese opera. Another common practice is to carry flowers instead of burning paper, incense, or firecrackers. Despite having no official status, the Chinese communities across Indonesia take this festival seriously and observe its traditions faithfully. For them, the Qingming festival is very much a family celebration and, at the same time, a family obligation to reflect, to honor, and to give thanks to their forefathers. In Magelang and Temanggung districts, Central Java, Chinese decedents along with their family members also observed the Ceng Beng tradition in respect to their forefathers by making devotional visits to the cemeteries. They came there with flowers to lay at the graves of their loved ones and then say some prayers for them. Pilgrimages to sacred places or graves of relatives are a traditional activity during the Ceng Beng festivity in Indonesia. "Once a year we make devotional visit to the graves of our loved ones at the Bukit Damai Soropadan cemetery," according to Tjong Han Gie, a Chinese decedent in Temanggung. He said many of his family members who have passed away were buried at the Bukit Damai Soropadan cemetery along the Yogyakarta-Semarang road. In the meantime, Bukit Damai Soropadan cemetery official Marsono said that during the past week many Chinese communities visited the cemetery for the Ceng Beng traditon. "On Sunday there were about 500 Chinese decedents from Magelang, Temanggung, Wonosobo, Semarang, Surabaya, and even from Jakarta came to this cemetery," Harsono said. Tanah Cepek Chinese cemetery in Tangerang, Banten Province, in the past few days was also thronged with many pilgrims, according to Ismail, a tomb keepr. "In the run up to Ceng Beng festival this year the number of devotional visitors to the Tanak Cepek cemetery continued to increase," Ismail said. He admitted that the Ceng Beng festivity is the time when the tomb keepers expected to earn more income because the visitors will pay them to renovate the graves. According to Ismail, Chinese communities who make devotional visit to the graves usually give money to the tomb keepers because they believe that the more they give, the more they will reap the blessing.