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SCMP Reporter

Cemeteries appeal to families to clean up after the rituals

Firefighters were kept busy putting out hill fires yesterday as thousands of grave-sweepers flocked to cemeteries  for the Chung Yeung Festival.

By 5pm there had been 56 reports of fires, 53 of them in the New Territories, well down on the 103 reported last year.

The biggest  broke out in a 2,500  square metre site near Lantau Link Toll Plaza, where shuttle bus stations to Disneyland are located. The fire was reported at 11.20am. Nobody was hurt.

Many cemeteries repeatedly broadcast appeals to grave-sweepers, urging them to put out fires and clean up after burning offerings.

About 120 volunteers also handed out  safety leaflets in six  big graveyards in Yuen Long  and  offered bottles of water as an emergency means to douse fires.

A spokesman for the Observatory said the fire danger warning had been issued and the fire risk was high.

Many grave-sweepers visited tombs in large groups and took advantage of the festival to stage family gatherings. Chrysanthemums and roasted pig were offered, weeds cleared and engravings repainted.

'We can meet most of the family members only on such occasions as Ching Ming or Chung Yeung Festival,' said Candy Leung, who was paying her respects to her grandmother with more than 20 other family members.

'There are four generations here and we will have dinner together later. For us today is also a family gathering day.'

Children and babies in  pushers were everywhere in the cemeteries.

Parents said bringing along children, even though they had never met the deceased,  was an important  part of passing on the tradition.

'I don't mind the fact they might have another religion when they grow up, but I want them to have a feel of the tradition when they are little,' said one woman,  who brought her seven-year-old daughter and four-year-old son to the Diamond Hill Cemetery.

'I hope this can foster the idea of paying respect to ancestors and remembering the deceased.'



Firefighters busy as thousands of grave-sweepers get to work