1) Do the respective authors use these traditional chinese rituals ( eating paper dissolved in drink, burning of paper money and houses, lighting joss-sticks and praying to dead ancestors) just for irony or for more profound purposes? What are these purposes?
To me,I believe they do all these things is for profound purposes.According our chinese's belief,by drinking paper that dissolved in the water help us a lot of things.If we have incurable diseases like cancer,by drinking the paper that dissolved in water will cure the disease.If we have a lot of bad luck lately,it is to believe that by drinking dissolved paper will clear all the bad luck and good luck will start to come.Burning of paper money and houses is a traditional thing to do for chinese ritual because people believe that burning all these paper money and houses ,the person that passed away will receive it and can live a good life in heaven.Lighting joss-sticks to the dead ancestors is a form of respect.People pray to them is because it is to believe that their dead ancestors are able to hear them and also protect them.
2) Would you yourself, as a modern young Singaporean, see the relevance of such cultural rituals in your society as necessary still, or are a hindrance to progress and enlightened thinking?
As a modern young singaporean,I see the relevance of such cultural rituals in this society as neccessary still.One important reason is because this is a chinese culture and for all chinese people have to do all these things like burning of paper money and houses, lighting joss-sticks and praying to dead ancestors because all of these is a tradition of our chinese culture which had started from very long ago until now.Therefore as a chinese singaporean,I should follow and also respect it as this is our chinese traditional things to do when we have a chinese rituals.Therefore in conclusion, cultural rituals is still necessary and it should not be a hindrance to progress and enlightened thinking.
3)Do you think the elderly in Singapore are out of touch with the contemporary world? How far is it a virtue to remain contented like old Mrs Li and think that there is nothing more that a person, especially an elderly one, can want?
Actually,not all the elderly people are out of touch with the contemporary world is because nowadays,the elderly people are slowly catching up with things like technologies.For example,using computers and handphone.They learn all these through their friends,their son and daughter and sometimes their grandchildren too.But most of the elderly are still out of touch with the contemporary world because most of elderly people do not really know and also use all those things like technologies nowadays in Singapore.Most of the elderly's thinking are quite traditional.That why,when come to get in touch with technology,they will have problems with it as they have totally no idea of it and also how to use it.It is a virtue to remain contented like old Mrs Li and think that there is nothing more that a person wants but nowadays we can see most of the people are not so easily satisfied,that why they keep buying new things for their satisfactory
4)Is looking back at the past necessarily a good thing? This particular story uses the past to affirm strong ties, emotion and sentiment, but when can it become a negative habit?
Looking back at the past has its advantage and also disadvantage.Sometime,if we look back at the past,we can learn and also correct our mistakes to prevent from doing it again in future. Past does not mean sadness only,there is also happy memories.For example.Mrs Li remembered the happy times that she and her husband had before he died.But looking back at the past consistently is not very good habit to do as you cannot see the reality.You will always live in your past and will not have even a chance to get in touch with the real world.For example,Mrs Li always look back at her past that why she become too focus on the past causing her to have lesser chance of getting in touch with the real world.
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