People

 Hume Street is also known as “Koon Choy Kai” in Cantonese, meaning “Coffin Street”. Do you know why?

Phun Yue Wui Kun 潘禺会馆 , the tall building at the far right, is one of the busiest funeral parlors along Hume Street. It caters to those who died away from home and also one who died young and unmarried. It is “fully occupied” the whole year. Sometimes two families even “shared” the premise at the same time. So, can you imagine how many people died in a single day?

Above this funeral parlor is a convalescent home, which is a dreadful place to stay. It is a place for the aged and sick to wait for the Grim Reaper. Many families send their old and sick relatives here to live out their last days after which the deceased is carried down stairs for the last rites.

It is very expensive for a Chinese “to die”. Unlike other cultures, this “once in a life time” event called for spending on many expensive items which are “unavoidable”. 

On the extreme right are some casket shops. The owners of these casket shops are very aggressive and competitive. With a walkie-talkie in hand in those days, and a mobile phone in modern times, they waited at hospital mortuaries, clamoring for business when they spotted a bereaved family. Some even “combed” the ICU wards to search for potential customers! Each will try to offer their best “deal” or “package”.

Most of them doubled up as priests or “nam moh lou” who will conduct wakes and funerals. It is a skill that took many years to master and is usually handed down from one generation to the next. In those days, a “nam moh lou” is usually a middle aged man but now you can find young and handsome guys, their sons, perhaps. Ever heard of overseas university graduates with degrees in accounting or business management coming back home to take over their father’s trade as “nam moh lou”?  I have. It is that lucrative!

Do you know how a casket is chosen? According to the casket shop owner whom my family knew, when somebody dies, the “nam moh lou” together with the kin, will light up a joss stick, chant some prayers and “lead” the dead soul to the casket shop where they will wait for a signal, normally a faint knocking sound coming from the casket which the deceased “fancies”! Throwing 2 small pieces of wood on the floor will confirmed the choice.

In those days, the casket was made in the traditional style, a long rectangular box with 3 humps. It was big and heavy, normally made from teak or pine wood. It is very frightening just to look at them. But today, they are very modern and westernized. Just a rectangular box with gold flower handles and came with a small glass window where one can see the deceased’s face as he or she laid inside.  A casket is normally expensive, costing several thousand dollars each.

A bereaved family will always try to indulge on the deceased. A suit made from expensive silk cloth with dragon and flowers motifs were usually bought to dress the deceased. They came in silver, gold or blue color. A cap and a pair of sandals of similar material and color were normally chosen to complete the look for a “grand exit.” The richer and older the deceased, the grander his or her suit will be.

The casket shops also offer to bathe and dress the corpse for a fee. Another spin off trade is to provide “make up” for female corpse. Arch eyebrows, blue eye shadow, pink cheeks, red lipsticks and hair neatly combed into place. Yes, all women like to look beautiful, even in death! After the bathing and make up session was done, a special ancient Chinese coin is placed between the lips of the deceased for him or her to bribe the guards in the hereafter! Yes, they even practice corruption in hell!!  

An umbrella made from oiled paper in light brown color is purchased from these shops. It is opened up and placed on top of the coffin to provide “shelter” for the deceased on the way to the hereafter.

For those who chose cremation, rows of marble and porcelain urns were available in these shops to choose from. They came in white for marble while the porcelain ones are normally in maroon, green or yellow. There were intricate designs of dragons, unicorns and flowers on the urns and Chinese characters “sau 寿” meaning “longevity” were crafted on them. For those who chooses burial, they will have to buy a plot of land and it is even more expensive, especially those with good “feng-shui 风水”.  Expect to pay between RM50,000 to RM80,000 especially in memorial parks with beautiful landscapes. Normally the owners of these casket shops will act as middle man between the family and the developer of these memorial parks.

These shops also sell mourning clothes. Normally black clothes, sack vests, white hoods over the heads  and white waist bands were reserved for the children and daughters –in laws to show that they are the closest and grieved the most. It is blue clothes and white waist band for grandchildren and great grandchildren. The son-in laws wears light color clothes and white waist bands because they are considered “outsiders” since they have no blood relation and did not shared the family surname with the deceased.

There were a few shops specializing in making paper offerings for the deceased. Among the things a dead person needed in the afterlife was a big double storey mansion completed with a pair of male and female servants, a big limousine with a driver and of course everyday items like TV set, fan, mahjong table and chairs, suitcase with clothes, shoes, accessories like watch and jewelries and not forgetting hell bank notes, lots of them! They said if one cannot have luxury on earth, at least one can after death.

In those days, a lorry is often used as a hearse. A large portrait of the deceased is put in front of the vehicle at the center and surrounded by a flower garland. Nowadays, modern vehicles like MPV were used. Two white lanterns with the deceased’s surname and age written were hang on each side of the hearse, ready for the last journey on earth. And in this case, that journey starts from Hume Street!

Don’t you agree it is a rather long and expensive shopping list, one that will surely burn a hole in the pocket?

Final part ~ One journey has ended. Another is about to begin…… 今世毕. 来世始…

                     http://www.ipohworld.org/?p=2131

Part 1       ~  Unfolding a Panorama Called Hume Street….伸展“谦街”的一幕

                     http://www.ipohworld.org/?p=1956

Sometimes life can be cruel.

It was late 1969. Dad has a younger brother staying with us at #188. He was a carpenter at a furniture shop in Ipoh. A young man of just 23, he was healthy and full of life vitality. Everyone liked him. He was steady with a pretty girl next door and they dreamed of a happy life together. In fact, they were busy planning for their big day.

One night, looking into a mirror while combing his hair and getting ready for a date with his sweet heart, he saw a small lump on his neck, the size of a 5 cent coin.

Thinking it was an insect bite, he just applied some cream onto it and left it to heal by itself. But it did not, instead it got bigger by the day. Before long, it ballooned to the size of an adult’s fist. It was a malign tumor.

Dad was very worried for him. Being the eldest brother, he felt it was his duty to send him for treatments and  was prepared to bear the costs. Treatments were sought for him in Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur at private and government hospitals but to no avail.

In Singapore, doctors there advised Dad to send his brother for treatments in Canton, China. Overseas treatments are expensive but Dad did not mind paying to save a young life.

At first, he got better and stayed on for a year there for further treatments. But the tumor recurred and in the end, he passed on, after several unsuccessful operations. A wedding it was not to be but a funeral instead for this unlucky young man.

A few months later, paternal grandpa, a heavy smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer. Again, as the eldest son, Dad did what is necessary for him but grandpa also lost the battle. The old man was given a proper last rite and burial. By then, Dad was almost broke to the bones.

Before he can even recover, along came a notice from the Ipoh municipality. Three conditions must be met before business license can be renewed again.

Firstly, operators of all eateries must tile the walls of their shops to 6 feet high. As the bucket system will be phased out in a few months time, all toilets must be converted to the flush system. Lastly, the whole shop must be repainted with white paint.

Dad simply cannot afford it anymore. Most of his savings were spent to treat his loved ones.

He went to see the shop owner, hoping to get some help. The shop owner stressed that he only let out an empty shop and will not bear any renovations done to it. It was clearly stated in the tenancy agreement and he was unmoved by Dad’s predicament. To add salt to injury, the rental was raise too. It has been a long time since the last raise, he pointed out.

As fate would have it, even the faithful stone grinder failed him too. After 25 years of heavy usage, the handle, made from hard wood, broke down. In fact, the whole thing, from wear and tear, is out of shape. It is time to order a new one from China. This will also cost a lot, especially the transportation’s fee.

Dad was at his wit’s end. No license. No tools. Rental has gone up.

Finally, he threw in the towel. The curtain came down on Nam Foong Coffee Shop in 1971, after 26 years of operation.

Our carefree childhood days abruptly came to an end when Dad lost his livelihood. What followed were the bleakest days of our lives. There were 8 hungry mouths to feed. We lived from hand to mouth for the next 2 or 3 years.

We did not celebrate Chinese New Year simply because we cannot afford to. It was just like any normal day for us.

No reunion dinner. No new clothes.

I still remembered how on the night of New Year’s Eve in 1971, Dad went out to buy 2 packets of fish ball noodles and asked Mom to divide it out among the children. Each of us would get a small portion it hardly filled up our hungry stomachs. That night, we all went to sleep early.

We could hear the fireworks outside welcoming the New Year and the children in the neighborhood running up and down merrily, playing firecrackers after their reunion dinner.

Her eyes red, Mom told us softly, “Go to sleep. Once you are asleep, you will forget you are hungry.”

I still remembered these words till this day.

Back in the 1970s, many people held their wedding banquets in Perak Ku Kong Chow Association at Jalan Yang Kalsom. Mom went there to work as a cleaner after the dinner has ended, to earn a few dollars. She would bring home some left- over food for us.

Succulent prawns, crispy fried chickens and tasty mushrooms which some people cannot take in anymore, we gulped these down hungrily. Sometimes, we could find some toothpicks and used tissue papers inside the gravy.

Despite the hardships, Dad held the family together and reminded us to study hard. He said, no matter what, we still have to go to school and learn. He believed, with a pair of strong hands, we will not be hungry again.

Note:

My late uncle was standing 3rd from left at the back row.

The couple in the middle, back row, were my parents while my grandpa was seated in the middle, front row. 

The original photo has been framed up and hung on the wall.