Name of Ritual

Offering Food

Description of Ritual/Practice

• In the past, Cantonese would offer tofu and winter melon – among other dishes – to mourners after a funeral (there are suggestions that it could be because they were a poorer dialect group) and it has created the colloquial saying of dong gua dau foo 冬瓜豆腐 to signify death or fatal unfortunate events.
• Huat Kueh/Fatt gou 发糕 is also offered because of its auspicious name that bears phonetic similarity to prosperity. The cake is given not to ensure the receiver gain wealth but to hope the receiver do not meet any unfortunate events after attending a funeral.

Who practices it? Who conducts the ritual?

Family Members to guests

Is it still practiced now?

• Most locals now offer everyday food, and a common food offered at Chinese funerals is curry chicken, which we believe could be the result of being influenced by the Peranakans who would serve curry at funerals.
• Hokkiens would serve ki ah kuey 碱水粿- a salty and soft white rice cake
• Peranakan Chinese also served blue and white versions of their kuihs (cakes) at funerals.

Other interesting notes

Roast pork and banana is given to those who attend the funeral procession now. The food is similar to food offered to ancestors at Qing Ming as these fatty food symbolise abundance.