Paper

Those who studied Literature in sec sch might be aware of this local story by Catherine Lim called "Paper" (story can be found in the book "Little Ironies: Stories of Singapore") where the main character sought to live a life of luxury for him and his wife. He hankers after in particular, of building his dream house with the works...eventually he went mad after losing money and well, did get a BIG house with kidney-shaped swimming pool, 2 cars, servants etc etc in the end - in the form of paper....

I attended my grandfather's death anniversary abt 3 weeks back...it was more of a ritual to ensure his comfort and well-being in heaven....so there was this tentage on a field with various offerings, about 5 - 6 taoist priests and this HUGE PAPER HOUSE that was like 8m tall with intricate decorations and ornaments, which really reminded me of this story I studied in sec sch..."...it stood seven feet tall, a delicate framework of wire and thin bamboo strips covered with finely worked paper of myriad colours..."

So there the priests sang, prayed and blessed.....and we 'hanged' around to pay our respects (I was either sitting on the floor staring into space or sitting in a corner reading Harry Potter Book 7 heee..) My relatives had been folding ingots and paper offerings since 1 2 months back...there were piles and hordes of 'money' prepared for my grandad...

READY...GET SET....

IN 30 SECS COUNTDOWN.....(see..my grandad is piled with gold and silver and oh forgot to mention he got a red mercedes w/ a chauffeur too!)

AND THEN THERE WAS FIRE......and it burned brilliantly....it really was Little Ironies...from masterpiece to ashes in seconds.....and did u realise our whole life is relation to paper? BIRTH CERTS - GRADUATION CERTS - MARRIAGE/DIVORCE CERTS - MONEY - ASSESTS - WILLS - DEATH CERTS.....that my grandad never had a chance to live in big houses til his death.....and that all of us may seem united in this affair but we dun exactly share a close relationship with each other....

Everything was over in less than a minute....not only the fake money went to ash...so did $6000++.....seriously i dun take to such practices....not exactly very practical to me...but my elders need to do it...and thats probably how this tradition/practice will phase out one day...? I dun believe Christianity will be the leading religion in Spore ever...but those generation Y-ers that grew up with the Buddhist/Taoist culture will definitely not uphold the tradition/beliefs as strongly as their forefathers.....

And oh yeah...Live Earth

xx
Lin