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Viewpoints A Deathly Divide
Viewpoints A Deathly Divide | A Deathly Divide |
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| Viewpoints | |
| Wednesday, 31 May 2006 | |
 For many Chinese immigrants who came to America to escape civil war or Communism, or purely to look for a new life, Mulberry Street is their final point of departure.
On this small street alone are three Chinese funeral parlours, a coffin company, two flower shops and a shop selling such paper offerings as mobile phones and microwaves to accompany the dead. Opposite, in Columbus Park, old men gather to play Chinese chess and majiang (mahjongg), in strange proximity to the photos of bright new coffins and tombstones hanging in the windows. Everyone in the area, from shopkeepers to waiters in nearby cafés, has seen the dark cars and funeral processions that over the years have wound their way from this street to the cemeteries upstate. The funeral business on Mulberry Street mirrors an ever-increasing divide among Chinese in New York. Second or third generation immigrants live in the suburbs yet come to Chinatown for an expensive funeral, while immigrants from rural areas of China who live in Chinatown are often too poor to afford a coffin. Mr. Chen, a charismatic man-about-town, is a Daoist priest who set up business on Mulberry Street selling coffins from China a year ago. He is from Fujian province, and has worked in the funeral business since he was 13 years old. He came to America thirteen years ago, and learned everything he knows from his grandfather. He does not speak English and neither do his staff. In the back room, clad in a leather jacket, he moves slowly amongst the stacks of shiny elegant coffins. He lifts one up to show the intricate stitched inside of colorful dragons. “Things have changed. The ceremony has simplified, but we try to let people know about Chinese culture,” he said, adding: “The first generation used to have a lot of kids, but now the new generation often doesn’t want a huge funeral and they have fewer kids. But the new immigrants bring their traditions. They keep their traditions.” On the 31st October of last year Mr. Chen established a “Chinese Perfect Ending Association” to help those immigrants who cannot afford a coffin or a proper burial. He has already given free coffins to 19 poor immigrants who died in accidents, or who did not have families in New York. “It is to help all Chinese,” he said, showing a photo of a woman who used to deliver fast food on Canal Street. Many illegal immigrants die still owing money to the so-called snakehead gangs in China, who helped to bring them to America, Mr. Chen explained. “We take pity on them,” he said. “We established this association to let poor people have dignity.” In stark contrast, Director Wilson Mak of the Ng Fook Funeral Service down the street wears a smart grey suit, and sits behind a large desk. He speaks to his daughter in English on the phone, in an office that has the hush of a well-oiled business. “Some of those new immigrants from Fujian - they don’t even speak Mandarin,” he said. “We can’t even communicate with them!” Customers here spend over $1,000 on funeral arrangements, often live outside of Chinatown, and are increasingly out of touch with their traditions. “We still try to give as much tradition as we can. We tell them what to do and they follow – they don’t know what’s going on but still feel Chinese!” Mr. Mak exclaimed. As the owner of one of the three funeral parlors that used to monopolise the business, Mr. Mak feels unthreatened by Mr. Chen’s competition. “Oh, he is just trying to sell caskets here. They won’t be able to provide any kind of service. They don’t have the facilities,” he concluded. But the number of immigrants from mainland China is rising in Chinatown. Often living and working in poor conditions, the services Ng Fook provide may well seem as out of reach as the American Dream itself. Henry Sanderson is a New York-based journalist who specialises in Chinese language, history, business and culture. |
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