'Bye bye bye bye bye....' the boy chirped as the coffin was slowly carried into the premises for incineration. Holding him on one hand, his mother struggled to put up a strong front in front of her son, but she could not hold back. Her tears fell, as the child just watched helplessly, not knowing what was going on.
The room was overflowing with human despair. Cries, moans, screams mashed together to form a wave of audible sorrow. The stronger ones prayed as the coffin advanced toward the incinerator, but most were too weak to do so.
The cousins who grew up with her weeped the most. Their childhood revolved pretty much around her, when the grandma was still able to walk, cook, and do everything else any other middle aged woman could do. They say she home-made the best oyster sauce around with her own unique bland of traditional ingredients, and others also mentioned how pretty she was in their eulogies, saying how she was still being wooed when she was singlehandedly raising 7 children after my grandfather passed away at the age of 8. The 52 years spent living her life as a widow must have been hard, especially in those post war days.
The daughters and sons stood at the front, wailing in deep agony. The father seemed to have reverted back to his childhood days as he called out to his mother, ' Bye ah ma, bye ah ma....' 'Lei fan lei la ah ma, lei fan lei ahhhhh' cried the youngest daughter as she observed the last few minutes of her mother's body.The eldest son held on to his mother's portrait, hands trembling, as he too could not hold back his tears and called out for his mother, hoping for a reply.
Most of the kids did not know what was going on. The 3 sons of my cousin were afraid. They did not know whether to tear or to laugh, they did not understand the meaning of death. The eldest one seemed to have developed a sense of understanding to death as he tried to console his mother, who was on her knees. The other 2 although not aware of the situation, exhibited the typical human emotion.Fear. They were at a loss at what to do, as adults who had once guided them in their every actions were now sobbing, the pillars in which they could always rely on seemed to have collasped.
Amongst all the bitterness, the grandson stood there, rigid. It seemed as though he was devoid of emotions, it was almost too inhumane for the grandson to not even shed a single tear. He watched as the coffin moved. The grandmother who once always ruffled his hair on his ocassional visits, the grandmother who always sat by him to watch television during the visits, she definitely deserved more from this grandson.
But from the perspective of the grandson, he thought no, that was not the end. Death never was the end. It was an oppurtunity to discover and find out what every other person can never achieve on this earth. They have the chance to see whether god exists.Whether there is something up there that has guided us through all the human miseries and perhaps deliberately creating new ones for us to tackle, so that we could all achieve that idealistic perfect human life. Death was and always has been a part and parcel of life to him, that was the way he was brought up. Sorrow can only move him this much, but no matter how deep the knife cuts, it would take a meteor to plunge right into his heart to enable him to feel.
'No more?Noooo more?No more chu chu train?No more.....' the boy exclaimed, sounding disappointed. It seemed as if time passed too fast for him to enjoy watching the train reach its stop.
To others, it was probably one of the slowest, most desolate moments of their lives, and it will be etched deeply in their soft human minds.
The room was overflowing with human despair. Cries, moans, screams mashed together to form a wave of audible sorrow. The stronger ones prayed as the coffin advanced toward the incinerator, but most were too weak to do so.
The cousins who grew up with her weeped the most. Their childhood revolved pretty much around her, when the grandma was still able to walk, cook, and do everything else any other middle aged woman could do. They say she home-made the best oyster sauce around with her own unique bland of traditional ingredients, and others also mentioned how pretty she was in their eulogies, saying how she was still being wooed when she was singlehandedly raising 7 children after my grandfather passed away at the age of 8. The 52 years spent living her life as a widow must have been hard, especially in those post war days.
The daughters and sons stood at the front, wailing in deep agony. The father seemed to have reverted back to his childhood days as he called out to his mother, ' Bye ah ma, bye ah ma....' 'Lei fan lei la ah ma, lei fan lei ahhhhh' cried the youngest daughter as she observed the last few minutes of her mother's body.The eldest son held on to his mother's portrait, hands trembling, as he too could not hold back his tears and called out for his mother, hoping for a reply.
Most of the kids did not know what was going on. The 3 sons of my cousin were afraid. They did not know whether to tear or to laugh, they did not understand the meaning of death. The eldest one seemed to have developed a sense of understanding to death as he tried to console his mother, who was on her knees. The other 2 although not aware of the situation, exhibited the typical human emotion.Fear. They were at a loss at what to do, as adults who had once guided them in their every actions were now sobbing, the pillars in which they could always rely on seemed to have collasped.
Amongst all the bitterness, the grandson stood there, rigid. It seemed as though he was devoid of emotions, it was almost too inhumane for the grandson to not even shed a single tear. He watched as the coffin moved. The grandmother who once always ruffled his hair on his ocassional visits, the grandmother who always sat by him to watch television during the visits, she definitely deserved more from this grandson.
But from the perspective of the grandson, he thought no, that was not the end. Death never was the end. It was an oppurtunity to discover and find out what every other person can never achieve on this earth. They have the chance to see whether god exists.Whether there is something up there that has guided us through all the human miseries and perhaps deliberately creating new ones for us to tackle, so that we could all achieve that idealistic perfect human life. Death was and always has been a part and parcel of life to him, that was the way he was brought up. Sorrow can only move him this much, but no matter how deep the knife cuts, it would take a meteor to plunge right into his heart to enable him to feel.
'No more?Noooo more?No more chu chu train?No more.....' the boy exclaimed, sounding disappointed. It seemed as if time passed too fast for him to enjoy watching the train reach its stop.
To others, it was probably one of the slowest, most desolate moments of their lives, and it will be etched deeply in their soft human minds.
posted by .Bryan. at
8:31 PM
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