A man in Singapore is demanding an apology after his offerings for his late mother was cleared away before he was finished paying respects to his mother during the Qing Ming Festival at Choa Chu Kang Columbarium, according to Shin Min Daily News.
61-year-old Peng Hong Mao was with his two older brothers on 15 April paying respects to their late mother, as they have done so for the last 13 years.
They reached the columbarium and had set up offerings of cakes, fruits, tea and some other food items on a small table before heading to burn paper offerings.
They then returned less than 20 minutes later at the table where they last left their offerings, and found that all of the offerings and table had been cleared and thrown into rubbish bags.
Peng then confronted the cleaning staff there but they said that they didn’t know what happened, but two of the workers at the columbarium apologised to them.
Peng added that he later received a call from a staff member who explained that they cleared the food in order to prevent it from attracting birds, but was unconvinced by the explanation and said that it’s rare to see birds in the columbarium.
He said that his family had wanted to offer tea and wine to their late mother after burning the paper offerings, and planned to bring some of the food home.
He added that the workers clearing their food offering was disrespectful to his late mother and was so upset at what happened that he grabbed the arm of one of the cleaners and demanded an apology from them to his mother, before calling the police.
Peng added that he couldn’t sleep well that night and was saddened by what happened, and said that he wants a satisfactory explanation from the columbarium.
He added that because the Qing Ming Festival is over, they can’t pay their respects to their mother again.
Peng said that the columbarium can remedy the situation by arranging for Taoist priests to perform rites for their mother, and added that the cleaners at the columbarium should have an understanding of Chinese customs when working there.
NEA responds
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said in response that they are aware of the incident, and explained that the cleaner had cleared the food offerings because they were “left unattended on the floor and attracting birds”.
NEA added that it was done “in accordance with (their) protocols” and they added that there were signages in place stating that unattended food will be cleared.
They further added that all visitors are reminded to observe general safety and not leave their food offerings, lit candles and live fires unattended; and said that they will not condone any ill-treatment of their officers, and they will report such incidents to the police.