🌹【吉隆坡福建义山暨聚福阁】:祭奠先祖 缅怀祖德 慎终追远 身教传承/Ancestral Virtues & Filial Piety Reverence, Remembrance & Inheritance 👨‍👨‍👦‍👦

雪兰莪暨吉隆坡福建会馆(雪隆福建会馆)辖下之 “吉隆坡福建义山”与“聚福閣”是我闽人祖先的安乐乡,也是华族精神与物质文化的重要瑰宝。百年来先贤们开拓并见证了巴生河流域的繁荣发展,承载体现了先贤们筚路蓝缕,披荆斩棘的坚韧不拔的崇高精神,这都是值得我们后人去景仰与发扬。

英殖民地政府于1920年1月16日在宪报(编号504)颁布吉隆坡克拉榕 (Jalan  Kerayong) 地区保留为福建同乡葬地,即“旧飞机场路吉隆坡福建义山”,面积约148英亩,由当时雪兰莪福建会馆(现为雪兰莪暨吉隆坡福建会馆)管辖。华人重视往生者“入土为安” ,因此为往生的同乡提供墓地是本会早期的重要任务之一。根据考察推断,在1890年以前,就有同乡葬于此,证明此义山已有超过130年的历史。

除有不少古墓外,“日据时期殉难同胞纪念碑”、华教斗士“林连玉先生之墓”亦座落于此。由于原有义山葬地日少,经本会董事会积极筹措,政府于1956年献出新街场路义山13英亩的备用葬地,则于1981年启用。这超过百年历史的福建义山,不仅见证了吉隆坡和巴生谷的发展,也记录闽人先贤参与国家建设的历史。

为了解决葬地短缺、供不应求的问题,本会历届会长和董事们共同筹建耗资超过千万令吉可容纳2万多个福位的骨灰楼。“聚福閣” 于2015年11月29日开幕启用 ,至今已推出4千余个福位供大众选购。近年来,聚福閣内也增设 “药师佛殿”, 内有神主牌位供大众供奉祖先神灵。同时,每年农历七月廿九日,本会连同其他闽籍友会共同举办秋祭盛会,以追思和祭奠先贤以及拜祭无嗣先灵。

本会历年来积极改善义山管理和设施,进行活化和美化义山的活动,积极提升设施工程。其中包括清除义山范围内的灌木、杂草、筑挡泥墙防止崩塌、改善排水系统、加宽及修补道路、种植花卉、修剪大树及处理倒树、粉刷凉亭清理节日祭拜后大量的祭品和垃圾等工作,每年投入的基本费用颇巨。

每逢清明时节,孝子贤孙纷纷回乡扫墓祭祖,兄弟姐妹相聚义山拜祭和追思祖德。清明扫墓是华人的传统习俗,除了祭奠祖先,还要言传身教,教育后辈子孙慎终追远,谨记先人们对我们的养育之恩。此外,清明节还有阖家团圆共叙亲情之意,家族长辈带领后辈共同答谢大伯公照顾祖坟风水,福荫子孙;拜祭时亲力亲为美化墓园、准备先祖生前喜爱的食物,供品香烛、金银、衣物等等,一尽孝道,代代身教传承,此乃中华传统美德。

本会每年虽已花费大量资金清除义山杂草,惟不能确保清理完善,各扫墓者可自备工具,自行或聘用承包商清理和完善墓穴内的的清理工作。由于义山境内宽广,清除义山杂草工作难度不低。如遇到雨天,位置较低的墓穴,难免会有积水的情况,主家可自备工具,自行再清理。而清明期间,为了容纳大量的车流量,部分义山道路改为单行道,以确保交通顺畅。同时也吁请各位扫墓者能共车到义山。在扫墓高峰期,本义山将聘请志愿警卫团 (RELA)维持义山交通秩序,各扫墓者务必遵守警卫团的指示。在特定的区域已准备大型垃圾桶和竹筐作为垃圾收集站,希望大家配合勿乱丢垃圾,共同维持义山的清洁, 让先人有个舒适的安息环境。

由于义山活化、美化和维修所需费用日渐庞大,从2023年开始,本义山征收清理费单穴40令吉双穴70令吉作为赞助维修暨美化清理费用。本会希望福建同乡到义山指定地点(如聚福閣,凤山寺、行政处等) 自动缴费乐捐,继续关心和支持属于闽人精神和文化的堡垒。

希望经过各方的努力,义山不再是荒草萋萋,令人生畏的地方,而是成为反映华族先人为建设马来西亚而 “生于斯,死于斯” 的实物见证。

The Kuala Lumpur Hokkien Cemetery and the Good Fortune Pavilion, under the jurisdiction of the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Hokkien Association, the home of our Hokkien ancestors, are important treasures of Chinese spiritual and material culture.  Over the centuries, our ancestors have pioneered and witnessed the prosperity of the Klang river valley, which embodies our ancestors’ lofty spirit of perseverance in overcoming obstacles. This indomitable spirit is worthy of our praise and emulation. Future generations should continue this spirit of perseverance and contribution to the development of our country.

On 16 January 1920, the British Colonial Government gazetted an area Off Jalan Kerayong in Kuala Lumpur as a burial site for Kuala Lumpur Hokkien community and named it the Old Airport Road Kuala Lumpur Hokkien Cemetery. This reserve land of about 148 acres was placed under the jurisdiction of the Selangor Hokkien Association (now the Selangor & Kuala Lumpur Hokkien Association). In the early days, one of the important tasks of the Association was to provide burial grounds for the deceased, as Chinese valued the importance of proper burial grounds for the deceased to rest in peace.  According to our findings, the site has already been used as burial grounds well before the land was gazetted for use as a cemetery. The earliest grave was found to be built in year 1890 which indicates that the Hokkien Cemetery has been in existence for more than 130 years.

Apart from several old tombs, there are also other notable memorial tombs in the Hokkien Cemetery such as the Monument to the martyred compatriots who perished during the Japanese occupation period  and the tomb of Mr. Lim Lian Geok, a prominent Chinese educationist. Due to the shortage of the
burial land in the Kuala Lumpur Hokkien Cemetery, in 1956, the Government offered to the Association another 13-acre burial site at Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur. This Sungai Besi Cemetery was opened in 1981 after active fundraising by the Association’s Board of Directors.  The Hokkien Cemetery, which has a history of more than 100 years, has not only witnessed the development of Kuala Lumpur and the Klang river valley, but also recorded the history of Hokkien community’s participation in nation building.

To address the shortage of burial land, the Association built a columbarium with a capacity of over 20,000 urn niches at a cost of over RM10 million. The columbarium, named Good Fortune Pavilion was opened on 29 November 2015 and since then, an initial batch of 4,000 niches have been made available for public purchase. In recent years, a Medicine Buddha Hall which houses ancestral tablets has been added to the Pavilion. The Association also organises annual Autumn Prayer Festival together with other fellow Hokkien dialect Associations on the 29th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar to commemorate our ancestors and pay respect to the spirits of those who have no heirs.

Over the years, the Association has actively improved the management and facilities of the cemetery; revitalised, landscaped, cleared bushes & weeds, removed fallen trees, built retaining walls to prevent slope failures, improved drainage, widened and repaired roads, painted the gazebos and cleaned up large amount of leftover offerings and rubbish after each Qingming festival. The basic annual expenditure to upkeep the cemetery is quite large.       

On every Qingming festival, filial children and virtuous grandchildren would travel home and gather at the cemetery with their families to pay their respect to their ancestors. Tomb sweeping during the Qingming festival is a traditional Chinese cultural practice. Apart from praying to our ancestors, we also teach our off springs to pray with sincerity and recollect with gratitude our ancestors’ virtues and role in nurturing us.  Qingming festival is also a time for family reunion and sharing of family affection. The elders of the family lead the younger generations to thank “Tua Pek Kong” for taking care of the “feng shui” of the ancestral tombs in the cemetery and blessing the descendants.  The elders would take the lead to personally sweep the tomb, beautify the surrounding and make offering of favourite food for their ancestors, burn incense, candles, paper gold and silver, clothing, etc., to fulfil their filial piety duties. This leadership by example of elders in carrying out traditional practices will hopefully be emulated and passed down from generation to generation.

Although the Association spends a lot of money every year in upkeeping the cemetery, we cannot ensure that the maintenance is perfect.  Due to the large area of the cemetery, it is not easy to remove weeds from every nook and cranny of the cemetery. On rainy days, it is inevitable that some water and silt will accumulate in graves that are located on lower ground. Thus, it is imperative that visitors coming for prayers during Qingming should also bring their own basic tools for tombs sweeping and cleaning up. During Qingming period, some of the roads in the cemetery will be converted to one-way streets to accommodate the large volume of traffic and ensure smooth traffic flow. We appeal to all visitors to the cemetery during Qingming to practice carpooling.  During the peak season, a RELA team will be engaged to maintain traffic order in the cemetery and visitors are advised to follow the instructions of the RELA team. Large rubbish bins and bamboo baskets are placed in specific areas to serve as rubbish collection points. We hope that everyone will cooperate in maintaining a clean and comfortable resting place for our ancestors.

Due to the increasing cost of landscaping and maintenance of the cemetery, starting from year 2023, a   fee of RM40 & RM70 for single and double grave respectively will be levied as contribution for maintenance and beautification of the cemetery. We hope that fellow Hokkiens will continue to care for and support the spiritual and cultural bastion of our people by making voluntary donations at the following designated places in the cemetery: Good Fortune Pavilion, Feng Shan Temple, and Administration office, etc.

It is hoped that with the involvement and efforts of all parties concerned, the cemetery will not be a daunting place, overgrown with weeds but a well landscaped, beautiful cultural heritage and a physical testimony to our ancestors who contributed to the development of Malaysia and find their clean and comfortable  resting place here.

👉目前正值华人清明节扫墓时期,本吉隆坡福建义山暨骨灰阁管委会已于2023/2月初在义山境内所有墓区展开清除杂草、灌木等工作,主家们可点击click👇@Facebook链接link,浏览本义山在除草后各墓区的情况:

https://www.facebook.com/cmtgfphokkienlang/posts/548821940566083

https://www.facebook.com/cmtgfphokkienlang/posts/554579146657029

👉【百年吉隆坡福建义山】video- 吉隆坡市的绿肺,义山内充满古迹历史,拥有感人的故事,百年来它见证了华人在巴生河流域开埠的奋斗史。🌴

https://www.facebook.com/cmtgfphokkienlang/videos/191975363533660/

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