What Is The Hungry Ghost Festival?

What Is The Hungry Ghost Festival?

Ever wondered why piles of burnt paper and ash accumulate on footpaths during the later half of the year? Singaporean KAREN FERNANDEZ, an Expat Living reader and contributor, explains how the Hungry Ghost Festival, which runs from 22 August to 19 September this year, continues to hold the island in its ghostly grip.

When I was growing up in Singapore in the 1970s, August was the month when children in our neighbourhood would cease their usual childish pranks and be on their best behaviour. We either avoided playing “hide and seek”, or we’d be warily looking over our shoulders all the time. Stories of children catching mysterious illnesses and families being inexplicably hit by bad luck seemed to be more common in the seventh lunar month of the year.

Childhood memories

I recall the plates of rice and suckling pig, and small pyramids of oranges appearing along public corridors, pavements and even under trees. We were issued with severe warnings not to touch these offerings, and I never questioned my mother’s admonishments. Amazingly, the tempting morsels never seemed to entice the wandering dogs and cats in our estate.