Kali Kuey

I got a serving of kali kuey (hokkien: curry chicken) recently. For those who doesn't know, the chinese funeral in Nogum City often provides food for the visitors attending it, and among one of the foods that is usually served is the kali kuey. So the next time someone says, "Wua qia le jiat kali kuey" (hokkien: I treat you eat curry chicken), don't be so excited about the literal interpretation.

I like hearing gems of wisdom from the elder generation. More often then not, they say something that my hungry curiosity would feed on greedily. Information like which part of China the elders are from, who lives in which part of the world, the fact that me and my brothers are not married despite of age, the legal onslaught from particular so and so, and Christianity. It is sad though, that meeting with these ai ya (canto: distant) relatives usually only results from having to eat kali kuey. Actually, considering the number of hops, they aren't really ai ya relatives.

And yes... Christianity. Or rather, Christianity and joss sticks. Before i continue, i'll talk about the first two of the ten more commonly accepted commandments (there are more than just ten commandments), which serves as the most common reasoning used by a Christian for not holding joss sticks.

1) Thou Shalt Not Have Any Gods Before Me
2) Thou Shalt Not Make Graven Image

Grammer? Shouldn't it be "Graven Images"? Not really. Its because commandment two is a part of a longer part. Sometimes i wonder why Christians like to accuse me of lifting verses out of context from the bible. Let's look at commandment two in context.

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:4-6)

It is not accidental that the part about "...for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me..." is dropped from the commandment. But that is digression.

There is alot more to explore as to what exactly graven image consist of. But that's beyond the scope of this post. Using the commonly accepted interpretation of what a graven image is, i dare say that there is no god or anything spiritual, in any religion or lore that indicates that there is a god that look like a couple of pieces of joss sticks.

In commandment one, aside from the consequent inferred that there are other gods than just God, let's look at the full context of the commandment.

"And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:1-3)

In its full context, the commandment is laughable. Egypt? Quit clearly, the first commandment did not apply to most of us. But let's forget that for a moment and use the commonly accepted interpretation of first commandment. I'm sure no one is going to believe a deceased is a god. So paying respect to the deceased could hardly be considered as having a god other than God.

So there is really nothing in the bible that says a Christian cannot hold joss sticks and pay respect to the dead. In fact, there is most certainly nothing in the bible that dictates that a follower should go to a funeral and act as if his soul is purer than everyone elses' (holier than thou attitude). Please... surely your god is not so petty. Even i, an atheist, have more faith in your omni-merciful god.

When in Rome, follow the Romans rule. If you're not going to show any respect, then don't go to the funeral at all.