China Exclusive: Extravagant funeral in school sparks controversy in east China

China Exclusive: Extravagant funeral in school sparks controversyin east China

HANGZHOU, March 9 (Xinhua) -- On a high school's playgroundLincoln Limos were parked, while an orchestra of 100 musiciansplayed, with super-sized LEDs as a backdrop and glaring cameraseverywhere.

But it was not a welcoming ceremony for a celebrity, nor a popconcert -- but rather a very fancy funeral.

This funeral held at Xinhe High School in Wenling City, eastChina's Zhejiang Province, attracted nearly 10,000 people. Eachperson attending received cash plus two packs of pricy cigarettes asa gift.

The extravagant funeral, estimated to cost 6 million yuan (9,312U.S. dollars), has sparked controversy after it was held on Friday,at a school day for students.

DISTURBANCE AT SCHOOL

Based on the information on the LEDs on site, the deceased was awoman aged 82, and it was her children who organized the funeral.

"She had five sons and one daughter, and each of them paid 1million yuan for this," said a witness, adding her children had madetheir money from the real estate, hotel and industrial sectors.

The students' physical exercise classes were canceled on Fridayand they were not allowed to set foot on the playground.

"It's very annoying. It's too noisy. We can't concentrate on ourlessons," said a student.

The scene also disrupted nearby traffic and police had to come todirect vehicles.

"No matter how rich you are, it's definitely not proper to holdfunerals at schools," a resident living nearby told Xinhua.

According to the Zhejiang Provincial Funeral ManagementRegulation, funeral activities should not disturb public order andshould not be held in public places, including schools.

So far, the telephone of the school president's office remainsunanswered, and how exactly the playground was made available forthe funeral is unknown.

Deputy chief of the city's educational bureau surnamed Peng saidhe had not known that the school's playground would be used for thefuneral ceremony. "School resources are public property, and aschool must obtain permission to lend out a field or pricyinstruments," said Peng in a telephone interview.

He said a vice president of the school had been suspended overthe incident, and investigations were under way.

FILIAL PIETY OR SHOW-OFF?

For thousands years, China has a tradition of holding elaboratefunerals to show respect to the deceased, but people nowadays arewondering just how much is "elaborate" enough.

On the Internet, netizens said the extravaganza, dubbed "the mostexpensive funeral in history," was absolutely unnecessary.

"It would have been much better if they had given the money tosome charity on their mother's behalf," said a netizen on a localwebsite called Taizhou Forum.

"Filial piety does not have to mean luxury funerals, and it isthe greatest filial piety if children treat the elderly well whenthey are alive," said another. "If their mother knew (about theluxury funeral), she would not necessarily be happy."

"You (children of the deceased) are using your mother's funeralto show off your wealth," said a netizen named Hu Shaolin at China'slargest microblog website sina.com. "You're the only ones whoenjoyed this."

Lin Dayu, a son of the deceased, apologized Wednesday whileaccepting an interview with local media, saying that he did notforesee the funeral causing such a commotion.

"My father died early. It wasn't easy for my mother to raise us.I just wanted to bid a good farewell to her," said Lin, who ischairman of Zhengtian Group, an automobile and hotel company worthat least 500 million yuan.

"I didn't expect the consequence would be so bad," he said.