It’s that time of year, when the ghosts come out to play and everywhere you look are shrines, burning effigies, food, celebrations and more. I love this month because it’s fascinating, and if you’re interested, I did a blog on it 12months ago to give it a bit of context. If you drive around the streets of Singapore in the early evening at the moment, you’ll see lots of people out burning offerings, although some nights are more active than others. I had to do a burning ritual once to get rid of my own ghost, and I have to admit, it felt very weird doing this in public when everyone was watching me. However, no one thought I was weird, because in Singapore, it’s completely normal.
As part of my desire to educate the boys in all things this magnificent world has to offer, I decided to take them down to the shrine that has been set up in our basement car park for the duration of Hungry Ghost Month. As with last year, the chuppa chups were there again, as well as lots of other goodies to tempt the boys – including soggy biscuits. We headed down after I gave the boys very clear instructions not to touch ANYTHING – especially the sweets – but man oh man; it’s hard instilling in them the need to respect shrines. There are always shrines in Singapore, in all sorts of weird and wonderful places, but the boys must understand it is very disrespectful to touch them. I’m working hard at training them, but man oh man they do my head in sometimes… well, a lot of the time really.
The good news is, according to this article, young people are embracing the traditions of Hungry Ghost Month again, and people have better health during both Hungry Ghost Month and Ramadan. Also, if you would like to know more about the taboo’s during Hungry Ghost Month, this article covers it all – I just find it all very fascinating!
One of the things the boys love about the shrines is the chance to play with fire. At least this is something they can do, as lighting incense to honour ancestors is welcome. They don’t get the full meaning yet, but I’m working at it.
Here are a couple of pics of my little pyromaniacs
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| Jax enamoured by fire |
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| Lex gets in on the action |
Yours, without the bollocks
Andrea
