WEEK 6 - Hungry Ghost Festival in Singapore

Hungry Ghost Festival in Singapore

    Just as the Americans have Halloween, the Chinese have the Hungry Ghost Festival (also known as Zhong Yuan Jie in Chinese), the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month, when the souls of the dead are believed to roam the earth from the lower realm.

Making offerings

    According to custom, these ghosts can get up to mischief if ignored so all sorts of offerings are made during this period, which is the seventh month in the lunar calendar. As the saying goes, a hungry soul is an angry soul.

   The spirits from the netherworld are denied food as a result of their wrong doings. When released they search for food to satisfy their appetite and once satisfy they will not bring harm or ‘disturb’ the people. This is the reason why people offer real food (not paper food) to the wandering souls”.  You don’t see fake paper food being offered this 7th Month Hungry Ghost Festival.

    People are specifically provided to contain the stacks of hell money and paper offerings, such as cars, watches and jewellery, that are burned by relatives to appease their deceased family members – taking care of their material needs even in the afterlife.

 

watch, wallet, cosmetics...

paper shirts become a common selection.

even IT-gadgets. XD

paper money offerings

Pretas

   Translated into English as " hungry ghost " from the chinese adaption. They always suffering in an extreme level of hunger and thirst and never satisfied. Pretas are believed to have been false, corrupted, compulsive, deceitful, jealous or greedy people in a previous life. As a result of their karma, they are afflicted with an insatiable hunger for a particular substance or object. 

    They are very difficult to find food or drink, difficult to swallow, some of the food they eat seems to burst into flames as they swallow it. Also, Pretas suffer from immoderate heat and cold; they find that even the moon scorches them in the summer, while the sun freezes them in the winter.

Belief

    Many believe that some things people should be avoided during the 7th lunar month, such as don't stroll at night and don't swim. It is said that drowned evil ghosts might try to drown people in order to find victims for them to rebirth.

    As the month is considered to be inauspicious, don't move to a new house, start new businesses or marry. Don't hang clothes outside at night. Do not pick up coins or money found on the street and never bring any home because they will follow your along the way. This is the most important things that everyone know - do not step on or kick the offerings by the roadside. If one were to step on any offerings by accident, he or she should apologize aloud to ameliorate the situation.

    Do not wear red because ghosts are attracted to red. Don't sing and whistle as these may attract ghosts. Moreover, Keep away from the walls as it is believed that ghosts like sticking to walls. If someone is born during the ghost month, avoid celebrating birthday at night. It's better to celebrate during the daytime.

Also, do not turn back if someone taps your shoulder or call you from behind during night...

Boisterous shows

    If satisfying the ghosts’ appetites for money and food wasn’t enough, taking care of their entertainment is also important.

    In Singapore, a mainstay of the festival is the 'getai' performance in heartland estates like Ang Mo Kio and Yishun., thrown as a popular mode of entertainment for the wandering spirits. In addition, Chinese operas which feature tales of gods and goddesses, bawdy stand-up comedy, as well as song and dance numbers is the traditional shows during the 7th month.

Chinese opera

Ge Tai

    Those live-concert are performed by groups of singers, dancers and entertainers on a temporary stage that is set up within a residential district. The festival is funded by the residents of each individual district.

    But 'getai' today is a very different animal – jazzed up with snazzy LED panel lit stages. Young, sexy perfomers sing not just traditional songs in dialect but thumping techno versions of English and Mandarin pop ditties. It appears that even the tastes of the spiritual world are moving with the times.

The "Ge Tai Challenge" show

Due to the development and the improvement of Ge Tai,
many of  the young generation started to involve into the performing.
No matter viewer or performer.

    During one of these 'Getai', it is known to be bad luck to sit on the front row of red seats, as they are there only for the Ghosts themselves, if anyone were to sit on them, they would become sick or such like.

you can sit on the front row if you don't mind have a shoulder-rough  with those 'good brother'

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    Although people are afraid the 'ghost' which they not able to see, but the one more dangerous creature in this world is ourselves - human beings. We can destroy and hurt anything to pursue something we desired, but the ghost can't.

    We not only pray for benefit or avoid from trouble, the most important is to show our respect to the those who used to lived in this world. The food offerings may not be as grand as the ones given to the ancestors, or as heart-warming as the one offered to family; but it contains the same amount of sincerity given. And are not restricted to any.

    This is why we do what we do, to honour the dead in a practice past down from generation to generation – to keep our identity and culture alive. Just like the Americans celebrating Halloween and Mexicans remembering the deceased on the Day of the Dead.