With one daughter in law and her three sons, the eight of them sat in the traditional chinese setting, waiting for their meal to start in a slightly awkward atmosphere.

The daughter fiddled for a moment with her nails. Then turned to her brother.

"Ah Guan, I ask you arh, should we buy a niche?"

The firstborn son, who happened to be right beside her perked his ears up. Niche...?

"A niche? Theres not much point, why you want to buy now?"

"Prices going up what, better buy first."

The son suddenly realized what they were talking about. He began to feel decidedly uncomfortable.

"How much is it over here? Its so expensive."

"$9000"

Caught in between the siblings, he couldn't look at either of them, he was certainly not going to join in the conversation. His brothers were talking to each other, his grandparents were most fortituously not paying attention, and his mother was taking a peanut from the table.

That was it, there was another plate of peanuts in front of him, and he took one.

"So expensive, whats the point, might as well just take your ashes and throw into the sea, its cheaper."

"You can't do that," the sister said, squirrelly in her mannerisms, "You have to apply for a lot of government permits, very troublesome."

"Well, my friends son died the other time and he just chucked the ashes into the ocean during a fishing trip, no hassle"

The son pretended not to hear the horror that was unfolding around him, and cursed his luck for being wedged between the two of them. He selected the most oddly shaped peanut and began to chew, grinding it slowly between his molars. Hoping to blot some of the sound out.

The sister fidgeted again, "This isn't Malaysia, you can't do that over here, its different, besides I wouldn't want to be flung into the sea, might as well flush it down the toilet."

Her brother considered for a while then replied with typical practicality.

"Why don't you just buy a niche in Malaysia then, its cheaper over there."

"Who's going to carry my ashes over?"

"Well I can always do it, if there's no one to do it then no one is going to visit your niche anyway. In fact why even bother having a niche, might as well spend the money when you're still alive."

They continued back and forth, oblivious to their morbidity. The son, obsessive in his peanut consumption looked across the table to his ancestor for help. The wizened old man didn't hear, but the discomforted look on his face was enough for him to crack an amused smile. There was no help to be found there.

Her brother was relentless, "Think about it, with $9000 you can go on a holiday and return, you'll need the money more when you're alive than when you're dead."

He smiled at his irrefutable logic while his son shoved another 5 peanuts down his throat.

And he wondered why lunch could be so awkward.