A Cambodian Funeral
on Mary In Cambodia (Cambodia), 20/Jul/2011 11:53, 34 days ago
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A Cambodian Funeral.This morning I set out as usual to visit one of my schools. Last week, on my visit to the same school the staff was in jovial mood. Two young men in particular were laughing and joking. I laughed with them, telling them I would visit their classes this week.Today, all was changed. I was met by one of the young men, who informed me that school was closed, because the wife of the other young man had passed away during the night. She was a 35 year old mother of 3 children. We drove a few hundred metres to the house to offer our sympathy. Neighbours, both men and women were there. The women were sitting around in groups of 8 or 10 making decorations from paper or straw, wrapping incense sticks into bundles or making frills from fabric. A group of young men were busy making a coffin, people were cooking, and some were eating. Everyone seemed to know what to do and went about their tasks in a somber but confident and respectful way. The young widowed husband met us and invited us upstairs. I was glad my assistant was with me, he knew what to do and I followed his example. An elderly lady sat on a mat in the middle of the room. As each person entered, he/she knelt in front of her and handed her an offering, over which she chanted before passing it back to an elderly gentleman who recorded the item and the name of the person who donated it, in a journal. The offerings were mostly small bags of rice, incense sticks and money. We knelt respectfully, gave our offering, waited until the chanting finished and took our leave.This was the first funeral I attended in Cambodia. It was in a rural area, so I’m not sure if all funerals are carried out in the same manner. I have passed funeral procession on the road, with the chief mourner wearing white and scattering rice to appease the ancestors so that they will welcome the recently deceased. We hear loudspeakers broadcasting mournful music and sad sounding chanting. Perhaps these are different customs or maybe they all happen on different days. Customs change from country to country, but the sadness felt when a loved one dies is the same for all of us.
