Offerings keep ancestors up with the Joneses
Paper plasma screens and fancy lingerie, along with plastic shark fins and birds' nests, are the latest offerings to ancestors for this year's Ching Ming Festival, but traditional items such as bank notes and candles are still the most popular.
Creative offerings such as the plasma screen, complete with a remote control, come at a price - $128. A shark fin or set of birds' nests is priced at $18 each.
Other new items include an MP3 player, at $38; lingerie, $18; and Korean ginseng, $28. A newly launched paper pet dog is available for $98.
Tin Chau Hong Worshipping Material Ltd said there were many more new items available this year.
'During the Sars outbreak, people tended to burn fewer new items. With the economy improving, people are more willing to burn new things,' said shop manager Ng Shuk-kuen.
Her business had picked up by 20 per cent this year although prices remained about the same as last year, she said.
Other popular items include a hot pot set, a Sony Playstation and colourful down jackets for the elderly. Some branches had sold out of hot pots and Playstations.
Even so, traditional items such as paper clothing, candles, bank notes and passports still drew the most customers.
'Some people are willing to try new offerings such as a hot pot. We also try out other items such as pet dogs. But sales of traditional items are still very strong,' said Ms Ng.
Kwok Ng Shau-chun, 95, said she spent about $300 on paper offerings this year.
'We are not very much into the trendy items. We will buy a suit at most,' said Mrs Kwok. 'Together with [edible offerings of] roast pig, fruit and duck, we spent almost $2,000 this year.'
Vivian Cheng Wai-kwan, a 58-year-old housewife, said she would not buy the trendy paper offerings.
'We buy traditional stuff such as bank notes, gold, silver and clothing sets,' she said.
Police urged grave-sweepers to make use of public transport during the festival because of limited parking around cemeteries and to be careful with fires.
