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Shou Fen

1974 , Singapore (Other)

Cat no. 3846

Documentary identifying the rituals associated with ancestor worship practiced by the ethnic Chinese in Singapore, including footage of a funeral procession.

Film identifying the rituals practiced by the ethnic Chinese residents of Singapore in connection with their traditional belief in ‘immortality after the grave’. The film includes a voice-over commentary provided by Peter Wilberforce Smith, during which he notes that ‘people take great care to protect themselves and deceased relatives from the dangers of downgrading in the next life’. Shots include: dioramas in the Ten Courts of Hell attraction in the Tiger Balm Garden [Haw Par Villa Dragon World]; street scenes in Singapore; a hillside graveyard; paper tokens to ease life in other world for sale on stalls outside temples; an incinerator at a temple, in which paper tokens are burnt; close shots of paper tokens and the construction of tokens which will be burnt; undertakers at work in the traditional funeral quarters of Pickering Street and Sago Lane; a man standing next to a coffin; a coffin in the street being dressed with decorations for a funeral; a funeral procession; the chief and paid mourners in a funeral procession; men on stilts; the final procession in the cemetery, including a shot of the chief mourner carrying a blue lantern; the coffin being carried on poles to its final resting place.

Featured Buildings

Tiger Balm Garden [Haw Par Villa Dragon World], Singapore Ten Courts of Hell, Tiger Balm Garden [Haw Par Villa Dragon World], Singapore Pickering Street, Singapore [possibly] Sago Lane, Singapore [possibly] Singapore Buddhist Federation Cemetery

Keywords

Documentary; Singapore; Ethnic Chinese; Funerals; Ancestor worship; Mourning; Undertakers; Afterlife: Geomancers; Graveyards; Coffins

  • Maker : Beryl E Wilberforce Smith

Manifestations

Shou Fen

  • Award:
    • Group 1:
      • Note: Awards (data migration 25/06/2021): Movie Maker Ten Best Film Competition, Three Stars, 1974; Institute of Amateur Cinematographers International Film Competition, Certificate of Merit, 1974.

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