I agreed,I tot our un-educated parents or grandparents are superstitious,even our professionals nowadays are equally superstitious!Unbelievable primitive beliefs !
When your material will being is taken care for and you live a life of earthly comfort, what else will you yearn for? You will need a sense of security for your after life, right? Kong Hee basically exploited human weakness in this. For the uneducated, they will pray to the 'tua pei kong" but for the English educated, kong hee's brand of preaching seems more palatable as it binds material success on earth with spiritual reassurances.Look at the Chinese emperors seeking for the elixir of everlasting life and indulgence in Taoism. It still expresses the same quest and inner desire. Throughout history, to question the validity of after life and god require great mental courage and brutal honesty which few will be able to endure and sustain.