I AM PAST 70 years of age, so I shall pull rank on my readers—most of you anyway, and talk about Birth, Life and Death.
My parents are both dead. I was at their wake, funeral and burial. There is much one can learn from the emotions, rituals and social behaviours that such events involve.
Reflexively, we fear death, but when it does appear, we find that we do accept it, simply because there is no choice. Reality is always abrupt when it confronts you. Death is always abrupt, and it is final. Yet, it modifies reality for those left behind.
Chinese wakes can stretch over several days. I came to realise why this is so. Now, births and marriages are socially declared and celebrated, while deaths (and maybe divorces) are socially mourned and acknowledged. The collective participation these occasions call for is highly relevant.
