SMJK Chung Hwa: Letting Memories Flow Under Umbrellas in the Rain

An unexpected morning rain slightly disrupted the plans, but as the drizzle softened, students held their umbrellas firmly and chose to walk through the cemetery themselves — using all their senses to take in this space filled with remembrance.

“I didn’t know there were burial options like urn burial or ash burials.”
“I never realized you could add your own epitaph on the back of a tombstone.”
“So someday, those who come to visit me can learn about me and remember me through those words.”
“I thought ancestral tablets were only for elders who had passed, but I also saw ones honoring unborn children.”
“Just like our guide said, not everyone gets to experience birth, aging, sickness, and death.”

By afternoon, moving from a space of honoring the past to the frontline of life’s final journey, they faced mortality more directly — walking a path of “living by confronting death.”

“I never knew that behind funerals, it’s Life Practitioners who carefully guide the deceased on their final mile.”
“They’re simply people who can no longer care for themselves.”
“The deep respect shown to the departed is truly admirable.”
“If my loved ones could be treated so gently after passing, it would be a comfort.”
“I’ll always remember the Silent Mentors and their profound contributions.”
“At life’s end, we are all so ordinary, yet so dignified.”
“By confronting death, we learn how to truly live in the present.”