The "royal barge" built by for the 2017 Wangkang in Melaka. Photo: The Star/A Malex Yahaya
Wangkang, a ceremony by the Fujian or Hokkien Chinese in Melaka, Malaysia, honours the deity Ong Yah. The event includes a “royal barge” that’s trotted across the state to pick up wandering ghosts and evil spirits. Then the boat is burned in a cremation ritual to send them to the netherworld.
It’s a spectacular parade, full of pomp and pageantry, that celebrates centuries of culture and tradition passed down from generations before. The observance dates so far back that none among the five leading Hokkien clans of Melaka really know how it all began.
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