Cemeteries offer proxy service for Qing Ming

CEMETERIES in China’s major cities began offering a unique service online for the Qing Ming festival – sweeping tombs for those who cannot make it to the graves of their ancestors.

An assigned worker would pay a visit to the grave, clean it and record the entire process in a video, reported Guang Ming Daily.

More and more people, especially those who are busy, living abroad or too old, opt for this method to remember and honour their deceased loved ones.

They usually place a visit order with the cemetery management, who then assign their staff to record the visit and send the video to the client.

A staff, Li Ting Ting, said that such tomb sweeping service had become popular in recent years and it had provided people with great convenience.

She said some cemeteries in major cities were charging 100 yuan (RM60) to 500 yuan (RM304) for each visit.

Another staff, Qian Hua, said he would also accommodate client’s requests, such as delivering certain messages or special offering at the grave.

Such services had sparked debates on Chinese social media with some people labelling it as going against the concept of filial piety, while some said it was an improvised way of people remembering their deceased relatives and called for a change of mindset.

> China Press reported that a 98-year-old lady in Zhejiang, China, trekked 3km in the rain to return the money that she owed to a carpenter 50 years ago.

Sun Xingbao hired Zhang Falin to make some furniture when her son got married at that time when the family was poor.

Unable to settle the full payment, Sun owed Zhang 10 yuan (RM6) in workmanship charge.

Having recalled the incident last month and feeling uneasy about it, Sun took out a sum of money from her bank account and headed to Zhang’s place.

Insisting to settle the debt, Sun handed 1,500 yuan (RM911) to Zhang, saying that the workmanship charge had increased over the decades and insisted that Zhang must not only get back 10 yuan.

Zhang, who initially refused to accept the money, eventually gave in and accepted 1,200 yuan (RM730).