THE WANGKANG CEREMONY: A UNIQUE TRADITION OF HOKKIEN COMMUNITY IN MELAKA

Abstract

This paper will discuss about the history of the origin and the functions of the Wangkang ceremony which practiced by the Hokkien community in Malacca. This paper will introduce the origins of the Hokkien community’s in Malacca. In addition, this paper will emphasize the functions of the Wangkang ceremony which practiced by the Hokkien community in Malacca. The functions will be elaborated based on the community’s practices and beliefs as heirs to their culture and practices. Based on the research, this ceremony is believed to have been practiced in Malacca since 1856. The Hokkien community believes that the purpose of the ceremony is to collect and sending away the evil spirits to another world. Based on their beliefs, the spirit was responsible for the existence of chaotic conditions, disease outbreaks and instability of the world. Thus, the community believes that the implementation of the Wangkang ceremony can restore prosperity and peace to the world. Qualitative method using history approach is used to obtain and analyze the data collected. The three approaches are the  field observations of Wangkang ceremony, interviews with authoritative individuals among the Hokkien especially Baba Nyonya community and also in-depth study of records and reports as well as the earlier writings related to the Wangkang tradition. The discovery of these three approaches is analyzed and synthesized to answer the research questions.  The results show that the Wangkang ceremony is not just an ordinary ceremony, but was a unique tradition that demonstrate the world view of the Hokkien community on the concept of the death. This paper will focus on the history of the origin of the Hokkiens and the functions of the implementation of the Wangkang ceremony in the community.