Chinese Benevolent
Association of Jamaica

Restoration of Chinese Cemetery

To offer your kind donation, time and/or service toward continuous restoration of The Chinese Cemetery, please contact the CBA Jamaica's Administration Office.

Gah San
Ceremonial Incense Package will be on sale at location. Contains: Incense, Candle,Matches and Imitation Money.

2010 - Annual Gah San Ceremony | April 11th
(Pending Post).

2009 - Annual Gah San Ceremony | April 5th | 001

2009 - Annual Gah San Ceremony | April 5th | 002

Restoration of the Chinese Cemetery
- Phase 2 Update -

Phase 2 comprising new wall / repairs to the surrounding walls of the cemetery will, at the end of February, be about 70% complete and we'll be doing our utmost to have it complete before Gah San in April.

The Chinese Cemetery

Is a reminder of the Chinese presence in Jamaica since 1854. After slavery was abolished in Jamaica, British landowners recruited the Chinese — specifically the peasant, nomadic Hakka Chinese from the Guandong province outside Hong Kong.

They came as indentured laborers, but soon rose through the economic and social ranks of Jamaican society, settling in downtown Kingston and throughout the island as traders, shopkeepers and bakers.

From the beginning, the Chinese mixed with the local population and converted from Buddhism to Christianity. At one point, some estimate the Chinese population reached 20,000, but it’s difficult to calculate a precise count because many Chinese are a blend of other ethnic backgrounds like black Jamaican, white European, South Asian, Lebanese, Syrian and Jewish.

When independence from British rule came in 1962, the Chinese fully integrated into Jamaican society. The second and third generations identified more as Jamaican than Chinese. They didn’t speak the old Hakka dialect, but spoke Jamaican patois. The CBA in Jamaica is trying to revive haunts of Chinese culture with Mandarin language lessons, Chinese socials, badminton, Kung Fu and other traditional Chinese celebrations. (Worldfocus.com)

The Chinese Cemetery was consecrated in 1929 as a final resting place for the growing number of Jamaican Chinese, then in its third generation. The cemetery had then offered a dignified and traditional resting place for the Chinese as an alternative to the existing colonial-style graveyards and cemeteries. (ESRI.com)

Useful Links:

GAH SAN

Annual Chinese Memorial Service

Venue
The Chinese Cemetery
19 Waltham Park Road,
Kingston 13, Jamaica W.I.

GAH SAN
April 11th 2010

Gates Open
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Security
Will be provided.

Please check back for details.