In those days, all weddings and funerals were handled by the volunteers of the walled village without outside help of any kind. Each function was held in the open space in front of the gatehouse. Weddings would have 8 to 10 banquet tables, while coffins for burial at funerals would be displayed in the gatehouse and watched over by villagers for two to three days. During this time clan women would buy sackcloth and white linen to sew their mourning dresses. Tradition dictated that only people surnamed Ng, Chan and Lee were allowed to handle such matters. Those of other surnames did not follow the same belief structure, psychologically feeling that it “ought not to be so”. Having grown up with families of the three surnames and understanding the importance with which their friends viewed such activities, they could however pay their respects to the village’s traditions and customs. Such funerals and weddings continued to take place well into the 1970s. While the observances gradually dwindled away in the following decades, the atmosphere still exists to this day. That said, villagers now tend to attend funerals in undertakers’ parlours.