Today is the second time that the family offered prayers to my late brother, Lay Keong on his 'birthday' after his passing on 25th December 2013. He passed away a month before his birthday in 2013, so this is the second birthday [Bian Kee] which falls on 19th day of the 12th lunar calendar.
On this day, most of the prayer items offered are quite similar to food prepared for birthday celebrations such as Lam Mee, red eggs, cakes, fried chicken and meat rolls, fruits etc. We even offered Sushi rolls and Chinese New Year cookies cos' his birthday falls near to Chinese New Year.
For Bian Kee prayers, the Mi Koo is blue in colour for the male deceased and yellow if the deceased was a female. There is no burning of joss papers for Bian Kee prayers.
Prayers were held from 9 am till before noon. Although, it is a 'birthday' but it is a totally different occasion and atmosphere of a normal birthday. It is a sad occasion for the family and nothing that we look forward too.
To my dear late brother Lay Keong, although it is more than a year since your passing, we sadly missed you. You are always in our minds. Words cannot express our feelings of loss and sadness. Without you, our lives have changed too.
