What You Should Know About The Singapore Hungry Ghost Festival

In the Chinese calendar, the seventh month is known as Ghost Month, and the fifteenth day is called Ghost Day.

Many consider this month to be unlucky — people avoid starting new projects, relocating, or having major events like a wedding.

Instead, in the seventh month of the year, Singapore celebrates something that is known as the Hungry Ghost Festival.

In this month, it is believed that ghosts and spirits, including those of deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.

It is quite different from both the Qingming Festival (or Tomb Sweeping Day, in spring) and Double Ninth Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, during Ghost Festival, the deceased are believed to visit the living.

On the fifteenth day, the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased.

Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is the veneration of the dead, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.

Festival Celebrations

Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold, and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors.

Elaborate meals (often vegetarian meals) would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family treating the deceased as if they are still living.

The night before the festival, floating lanterns are released to welcome the ghosts and help them find their way.

On the day of, organizations such as clan associates, temples and businesses will organize large prayer events that include a dinner and auctions to raise money for local charities.

Following the dinner, there is entertainment meant for both humans and spirits. This entertainment can range from Chinese operas to Chinese pop music.

In megacities like Singapore, the entertainment can take the form of full-scale concerts with choreographed dance moves, light shows, and English singing.

Ancestor worship is what distinguishes Qingming Festival from Ghost Festival because the latter includes paying respects to all deceased, including the old and younger generations, while the former only includes older generations.

The Ghost Month also doubles as an important education tool — teaching children about the importance of looking after one’s family members and those who are less fortunate.