From: Rene - 3
Date: 7/1/00
Time: 6:21:55 PM
The year was 1965 - I had just graduated BSc
and was home from England. Grand Mother had suddenly taken ill (she was
supposed to have swallowed too many unborn chicken eggs - gifts from Pek Lin) and
was admitted to Assunta Hospital. For days, my holiday became a work experience
in being a chauffeur - ferrying any and everyone to the hospital. Grand Father
had stipulated that a vigil be kept 24 hours a day.
Grand Mother took a turn for the worse -
last rites were administered and prayers were offered in all Chang households
(I think Uncle Peter was living in Ipoh at the time), but to no avail.
Grand Father took over resolute command of
the situation. He commanded that all the Changs be measured and had fitted with
black mourning outfits. He also prepared a bed in the front room in preparation
for Grand Mother's lying in state when she died. The idea of the exercise, from
the rumours I heard was that these actions were undertaken to challenge the
devil. There is a Chinese term for this which I cannot recollect. If you let
the devil know that you are not that bothered about Grand Mother dying since
you are already making preparations for it, it is not much fun for the devil to
persist in his machinations and he(she?) will lose interests and go and bother
another household.
Although I did not witness it, I was
subsequently told that my brothers - Matthias and Tony made Grand Father very
cross by lying on the bed in the front room.
A few days later, it was announced that
Grand Mother was recovering. It was amazing stuff. My first recollection
(Rene-2) was the power of prayers and the last rites. On this occasion, there
were the prayers and last rites and also the challenging of the devil. Maybe
Grand Mother was more seriously ill on this occasion, so that the third element
was required.
Arising from this incident, there are
several questions for which I don't have answers: Did Matthias’ and Tony's
offer to take the place of Grand Mother by lying on the bed also made a
difference? I have also wondered if anyone bothered to confess to the act of
challenging the devil - maybe it is not a sin.