This article written more than 32 yrs ago. Yesterday was the start of the Hungry Ghost festival. It will last for about a month. The Chinese Dumpling Festival of the 5th lunar month is over. No sooner had it passed away then the 7th month Ghosts Festival is here. This once a year affair is also known as the Zhong Yuan Jie (中元节). Within the Chinese community, whenever this annual festival arrives people try to make it as joyful a celebration as possible. Wherever one goes, whether by the road or in the streets, around the HDB flats or in the compound of the shopping complexes, one sees canvass tents and colourful bulbs all over the place. On the 15th of the 7th lunar month, celebrants can be seen milling around altars with bundles of burning joss-sticks. some kneel on pieces of pillow and throw the two little bean-shaped wooden bits into the air to gauge the changing moods of the Shen(神). If one of the two pieces turns upside down, this implies that the Shen is showing displeasure. But if both pieces follow suit, the thrower is bemused by the Shen’s supposed laughter at this awkward request. In order to be assured of the Shen’s blessings for his request, the thrower persists until both of them turn to the correct side. The contented thrower then withdraws and stop bothering the Shen; for fear he might offend the Shen on this busy day. In the late afternoon, a great variety of goods are then distributed equally in the red-coloured plastic pails to the members who have made contributions to the celebration. Some money is set aside for buying miscellaneous items, like bicycles, cassette players and also the popular “black gold”. These items are auctioned at many more times than the original prices. The celebrants try to compete with one another for the limited items. Everyone tries to bring home something so that he can show it around to friends and relatives and also for remembrance. If they can afford it, the day is usually concluded with a delicious dinner. Usually, the auction is held in the middle of the dinner. The many announcers can now take the opportunity to impress their friends, especially girlfriends by shouting as loudly as possible the auction prices. This generates a lot of excitement and commotion whenever an item is sold off. The money collected is used to finance a portion of the next coming year’s festival expenses.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 09:05:23 +0000
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