Hungry Ghost Festival
Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrate by Singapore Chinese community on the 7th month of the Chinese lunar calendar and usually fall on the August or September of the Western calendar month. The Taoism Chinese believed that the gate of the hell is opened during this month and the spirit of the dead are released to roam the earth. The Chinese also believed that the deceased family members will return and visit theirs relative.
How is the ghost festival celebrated?
Like others Chinese community in China, Hong Kong and Malaysia who also celebrate Ghost Festival, Singapore Chinese celebrate by offering food, prayer, burn joss stick and hell money to pay tribute to their deceased relatives. The Chinese also offered food and burn hell money to other unknown wandering ghosts (hungry ghost) so that this homeless soul will not intrude with their daily live that might caused bad luck or misfortunes.
If you are in Singapore during this month, you will see Wayang (Chinese opera) and concert performance at outdoor stage (Chinese called it Getai) around the neighboring. These performances are usually held at night. Is a loud affair with singing, dancing and opera amplified by loud speakers. These entertainments are actually for those hungry ghosts so as to please them but it is usually filled with living audience. However, the first row of seats are usually left empty. Do you know why? Those seats are for the ghosts so remember done take the front row seats if you happened to be one of the living audience there to enjoy the performance when you are in Singapore.
What is the unique celebration in Singapore?
The unique celebration in Singapore is the hungry ghost festival auction dinner and is the highlight of the celebration. Ghost festival group prayer is usually organized by different Chinese temples or chinese communities, member will paid their member fees annually or monthly and during the 7 month of the lunar calendar, the communities will organized group prayer or some even hired Wayang and song performance. The organizer will buy food, fruits, package rice, can food, sweets and others items to distribute equally and put in red pails to pray to the hungry ghost. After the prayer, member will correct one of the red pail that contain prayer goodies back to their home to consume for good luck.
At night they will come back to the celebration place to attend hungry ghost festival feast with 8 or 10 course dinners served. The highlight of the night is the hungry ghost festival auction which is unique in Singapore ghost festival celebration. The organizing communities will auction out a wide range of auspicious items that are either donated by the member or bought by the organizing community.
Singapore Chinese believed if they are able to bide the item, it will bring them good luck for the year. The main reason for the auction is to raise funds to make offerings to those spirits who have no one left in the living world to look after them. The money raised during the auction also goes to charity and and to subsidise the following year’s Zhong Yuan Jie. During the dinner there will also representatives from different charities community going from table to table for donation. Thus Singapore hungry ghost festival is also a charities donation day. Do drop by at one of the neighboring ghost festival auction dinner to observe this unique Singapore festival culture if you are in Singapore during the ghost month.
Superstitious rules
Ghost festival is an inauspicious month with the believed that there are lot of ghost around the street therefore there are some superstitious rules that the some Chinese still observed.
Here is the list of ‘advices’ to heed during the Hungry Ghost festival
- The Chinese will not get marry during Hungry Ghost Festival as it is considered inauspicious.
- Children are advised to stay away from swimming during the 7th month as it is believed that the water spirits will drag these little ones into the water and drown them.
- Avoid old trees. It is believed that the spirits will hide there.
- Children are advised to return home early and not to wander around alone at night. This belief is due to the reason that the wandering ghosts might possess children.
- Chinese will not renovate or move house during this inauspicious month.
- Chinese try to stay at home at night and will not go oversea trip
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