By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Brothers James C.M. Young, left, and George C.K. Young
stand in front of the gateway to the Manoa Chinese Cemetery.
Grounds for respect
Brothers entrusted with tending
By Burl Burlingame
their father's grave are the force behind
the Manoa Chinese Cemetery's upkeep
Star-BulletinGEORGE C.K. Young jokingly calls the Manoa Chinese Cemetery a "dead issue," but for Young and brother James C.M. Young, the memorial-dotted hillside is more of a living trust. Father Kee Nam Young, a Chinese doctor and herbalist, charged his sons with keeping up a public charity before he died.
"Like what?" George Young recalls asking his father.
"Just take care of my grave," said Young the elder.
They joined the Lin Yee Chung Association, a charity group charged with operating the old Manoa cemetery, and George Young eventually became president. They've spent the last decade gradually renovating the site, to the point where it has become a must-see in Malama O Manoa's listing of historic locations in the valley.
April is the month of "Ching Ming," the period of venerating ancestors, and a commemoration will be held Sunday at the cemetery.
By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
A photo of Hu Tom Shee graces her marker at the Manoa
Chinese Cemetery. Ching Ming observances are this Sunday.
Neighbor Francis Hirakawa, who walks by the cemetery every day, said that the Youngs "have really fulfilled their commitment to their dad. The improvements have enhanced the dignity, the serenity, the peacefulness of the cemetery...I remember when there was tall grass everywhere!"The Youngs are far more modest, calling their work "some fix-up here and there."
One of the biggest changes has been the replacement of the gateway arches at the entry and on top of the hillside. "The wooden ones were termite-eaten and had rusty connections," said James. "They were a liability. A strong wind would have knocked them out. As it was, we tied it to a backhoe and it fell right over."
The new gateways are concrete and tile, and the landscaping around them is being tweaked by groundskeeper Benny Sacro, whom the Youngs credit with the improved appearance of the greenery. "Benny has a magic touch," said George, and Sacro and wife Florita will be honored Sunday for their work.
The main gate was shifted from over the entrance road to a central spot between entrance and exit. "We had to get a variance from the city, because it should be 30 feet back from the road. But if it was 30 feet, we'd have to exhume some graves," said George.
The pediments for the old gate still bracket the road, and the Youngs hope someday to place carved lions there.
By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
A Corvette image engraved on a tombstone
offers a hint at the deceased's personality.
The tiles on the new gateways are imported from Taiwan, and donated courtesy of Danny H.C. Young and Harry H.W. Young. "No relation -- our ancestors are from different villages," said George. "We're pronounced 'yung,' they're pronounced 'yoong.' Their contribution was worth more than $18,000."It cost more than $100,000 to fix the place up, some of which came from the association's coffers and the rest from donors.
Despite all the Chinese involved, the cemetery's name is "something of a misnomer," said George. "Chinese did start the cemetery, but anyone can be buried here, any background. There's still quite a bit of space left, too."
The Chinese reverence for ancestral piety is played out over the hillside, with memorial stones are various sizes and shapes, each individual, many still bearing traces of red paint that indicates a burial site. Some have photographs, sepia and tinted, of the face of the deceased. Others have images of the ancestor's passions, such as a Corvette engraved on one headstone.
By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Leis bedeck gravestones of long-since-passed loved ones.
"He wanted actually to be buried in a Corvette, and bought four plots so it would fit," said George. "But the family convinced him it would be a waste of money, so they just engraved a Corvette on the headstone."The graves' locations were determined by Chinese fung shui masters early in the century, riding halfway between heaven and earth, so that those buried would have mountains at their back and the sea to their feet. This is why the graves all point in the same direction.
Notable grave sites include that of Chan Apana, the bullwhip-toting Honolulu policeman who was the model for fictional Charlie Chan, and a mass tomb of seven Chinese aviators -- including one woman -- shot down over Burma in World War II.
Some aren't so notable. "We find older remains that aren't marked, and so they go into a mass grave near the head of the cemetery, like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier," said George.
Other graves were unearthed by families wishing to send the bones back to China. "They take them out, clean them up and want to send them back, but the Department of Health doesn't allow that," said George.
"Only cremated remains can be sent, but Chinese don't like cremated remains, so many are kept in a kind of bone vault here. We have to lock it up so the university medical students don't run off with the bones!" chuckled George.
Some larger graves have a tiny marker placed off to the side, indicating the "Sovereign Earth," or protector of the tomb.During Ching Ming month, food -- fish, chicken, shrimp, oyster rolls -- is commonly left at the memorials. "Other things like beer, wine, cigars -- only if the deceased liked them when they were living," said George. "You should enjoy people while they're alive; offerings are only second best."
Any ghosts?
"Oh, I've been up here as late as 7:45 p.m., and never seen anything," said George. "I've heard people talk about fireballs and stuff, but I think that's just for the tourists. When you do good, you're blessed, and the ghosts have no reason to haunt you."
He and James posed beside their parents' graves, marble that glowed whitely. "Had to have 'em sandblasted last year to clean them," said James.
Are their own grave sites picked out?
"Oh yes," said George. "But we won't have white headstones. Too hard to clean."
The facts
What: Ching Ming observances
