From the Readers

Online tombs are a disgrace

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-12 08:16

Comment on "Online tombs becoming more popular" (April 6, China Daily).

Sweeping the tomb is an important Chinese tradition to pay homage to the dead. The real purpose of the Tomb Sweeping Festival is to thank the deceased who have brought us up, helped educate us and guided us through the thick and thin of life. We sweep tombs to commemorate and thank them.

But these are post-modern times - times of virtual reality and times of online "tombs". But online tombs are completely against the spirit of the festival. Paying homage to the dead on online tombs is like playing a computer game. We use an account number and a code to pay our respects to the deceased - the same process one applies to play a no-brainer computer game. Online tombs make paying homage to the dead a formal fad. If that be the case, why should the government grant a public holiday for the occasion?

Perhaps a day will come when a person can register online after the death of his-her parent and staff from funeral home will come home and do the needful for the burial or cremation. All one has to do is just sit before the computer and click "next" to complete the process. You can do it even while sitting in your office, chatting online with your friends or playing a computer game.

Lindsey, Guangzhou, via e-mail

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(China Daily 04/12/2010 page10)