Hungry Ghost Festival
In Singapore, metal bins are being provided by the town council around residential areas for people to burn the hell money, paper offerings and so on.
During the Hungry Ghost Festival, many people believe that there are certain rules to follow. For example; young people should not wander around too late into the night as spirits would follow them home, it is bad luck to kick or disturb offerings made for the spirits, it is best not to swim during this month, it is inauspicious to get married during this month and many more.
Hungry Ghost Festival is a traditional Buddhist and Taoist festival. The Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month of Chinese calendar. So, the seventh month is called the Ghost month. The Buddhists and Taoists believe that on the seventh month in the lunar calendar, the souls of the dead roam around the earth.
All sorts of offerings are made during this period. People will offer food offerings such as oranges, apples, pears, rice, pig and so on. They also will offer joss sticks on proper altars or some will just tuck them at the side of walkway.
The relatives also will buy stacks of hell money and paper offerings like cars, watches, bags, clothes and shoes to be burnt and offered to their deceased family members. They believe that this is to provide material needs for their deceased family members in the afterlife.
In Singapore, metal bins are being provided by the town council around residential areas for people to burn the hell money, paper offerings and so on.During the Hungry Ghost Festival, many people believe that there are certain rules to follow. For example; young people should not wander around too late into the night as spirits would follow them home, it is bad luck to kick or disturb offerings made for the spirits, it is best not to swim during this month, it is inauspicious to get married during this month and many more.
'During this month, there will be performances such as Chinese operas and 'getai' (live stage performances) being set up for the dead and the living. Large tents are built in open fields to host the concerts. The first row of seats in front of the stage are always left empty. They are believed to be served for the wandering ghosts.
In conclusion, although I do not celebrate Hungry Ghost Festival nor believe in the taboo as I have different belief, I respect those people who are celebrating Hungry Ghost Festival. For example, I would try to avoid stepping onto burnt papers or ashes from the offerings that fly to the walkway. Hence, even though not everybody has the same beliefs or religions, we still have to respect one another's beliefs or religions as everyone has freedom to choose what they want to believe in.
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