Ng Sai Ming
Ng Sai Ming
Village elder yearning for rural lifestyle
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Participation in the 26th Jiao Fesitval (1)
Participation in the 26th Jiao Fesitval (1)
Ng Sai Ming (front row, fourth from left) with various elders and villagers taken at Nga Tsin Wai’s Jiao Festival in 1976.-Provided by Leung Shek Lun
Participation in the 26th Jiao Fesitval (1)
Ng Sai Ming (front row, fourth from left) with various elders and villagers taken at Nga Tsin Wai’s Jiao Festival in 1976.-Provided by Leung Shek Lun
The spectacular sight of a Jiao ritual parade before the second world war
The villages of Nga Tsin Wai League of Seven held a Jiao Festival every ten years. The seven villages include Nga Tsin Wai, Nga Tsin Long, Sha Po, Tai Hom, Chuk Yuen, Kak Hang and Ta Kwu Leng. The seven villages were close geographically, so the villagers knew each other well and many of them were relatives. Before the war, the rural practice was to choose an auspicious days in advance, on which a woman from Nga Tsin Wai, who were thought to be blessed and lucky, would bath and dress the “Ma Leung” (Tin Hau) statue. On the day of the festival, villagers would carry the statue from Tin Hau Temple to a theatre where people performed a puppet show for Tin Hau. Then, the statue would be put onto a sedan chair, led by a white horse, and paraded around the villages including Ma Tau Wai, Nga Tsin Long, Chuk Yuen, Po Kong and Yuen Ling. Sheung Shou (the elderlies) also got to sit on sedan chairs. The statue would be brought into each village’s temple, such as Tin Hau Temple in Po Kong Village and Pak Tai Temple in Ma Tau Wai. Each village must prepare refreshments for the parade team. In 1936, when Ng Sai Ming was 14 years old, the last parade took place.