Hungry Ghost Festival

Over the last 2-3 weeks in many places there's been a smell of burning in the air and, as happened to me the other day whilst waiting at a bus stop, pieces of ash drifted down and landed on me. Fortunately this was not due to the dreaded haze caused by burning areas of forest in Indonesia for palm oil plantations. This ash was more local and looking around I could see a man standing at a metal bin feeding the fire inside the bin with pieces of paper 

Also lining part of the grassy area leading to the HDB block was a row of candles

and tucked in a corner was a collection of plates filled with food and a can painted red with incense sticks

close by this was a small shrine with more food offerings and candles on the table

All these symbols reminded me it is Hungry Ghost Festival time ( locally called Zhong Yuan Jie) again. During the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar (this year 22nd August -19th September) the gates of hell are thrown open and the hungry ghosts are let out to look for food and water. On the 15th day it is believed that Di Guan, one of the 3 heavenly rulers descends to earth to keep a register of the good and evil deeds of people.At the end of 30 days later the last ghost is hauled home and the gates are firmly shut again. 

Although originally a Taoist festival, nowadays the Chinese community whether they be Taoist, Buddhist or another religion will throughout the month organise home prayers, temple services and street events to commemorate and serve the dead ancestors and appease wandering spirits

On the evening of the 15th day I joined a special Hungry Ghost tour. I met the guide outside the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown and we watched as monks and nuns gathered and chanted by a huge mound of rice (this would later be distributed to the needy in Singapore)

Continuing to chant the monks exited the temple and walked the whole way around the temple perimeter, passing by long tables filled with offerings of fruit, sweets and plates of food

...lots of plates of food! Our guide explained that the term Hungry Ghost is used as the spirits at this time are trapped between the living and spiritual realms and are unable to eat or drink, which results in them being constantly hungry

We followed the monks back inside the temple and had a look around. Large painted panels had been placed on display, each panel depicted a gruesome scene from one of the 10 Courts of Hell. In ancient Chinese times it was believed that once dead the person is taken to each of these courts where they are judged on their past good and bad deeds and then punished if any crime has been committed

Under many of the figures there were more collections of offerings. (I hadn't realised that I wasn't meant to be taking photos as normally you can in this temple) but I stopped as soon as requested to

By the time we came outside again it was dark, the lanterns had been lit, each had a 'ticket' with the name of the person, family or company that had sponsored that lantern

Our guide then took us to a local shop that sells incense, joss sticks and a wide variety of paper offerings. As well as offering prayers and hosting banquets to appease any wandering spirits, the Chinese make offerings of joss sticks, paper money and paper gifts

Paper offerings including clothes, cars, watches, phones, jewellery as well as large bundles of "hell money" will be burnt by relatives to appease their dead family members-taking care of their material needs even in the after life!

It seems like everything can be provided for your dead ancestors including bottles of beer and even a new set of dentures

The shop keeper was busy preparing pre ordered bags of paper offerings

I particularly liked the ' money' from the Hell Bank Corporation, there must be some seriously wealthy individuals in the after life

Our tour moved on and after a short coach ride arrived in the Geylang area of Singapore close to the Sheng Hong Temple. The road leading to the temple had fairy lights strewn down it's length

Our timing was perfect because as soon as we got to the temple the night's star attraction was being taken from the temple to the huge tent erected in the car park.

Two incense bowls filled with the ash from the previous years worth of joss sticks burnings were to be auctioned off later that evening 

Inside the tent there was a large gathering (about 3,000 people) enjoying a Chinese banquet and bidding for some of the early lots. We watched as a gold chain and pendant was being auctioned. Whilst we stood there two more guests were escorted into the tent and to their tables, both government ministers. Our guide told us that the lady guest was Halima Yacob who is the hot favourite to become Singapore's new president later this month. (Update-she has now been elected, Singapore's first female president)

Our time was short and unfortunately we were unable to stay for the excitement of the auction of the two incense burners, we were told that the successful bidder gets to keep the burner for 12 months and then must return it to the temple to be used again. In 2013 a record amount was bit for one of the burners; $488,888 (about £274,000)! 

We left the excitable and happy gathering and on the way back to the coach had a quick look inside the temple

This temple's deities include the City God; Qing Xi Xian You Bo Zhu

and has a Taisui Hall containing the effigies of 60 Taisui Generals (stars near to Jupiter that are personified as deities, they are important in Chinese astrology. Feng Shui and Taoism

A small stage had been set up in one area of the temple with a hand puppet show taking place to entertain the gods

On the way out of the temple we passed by statues of the 12 animals that are the symbols of the Chinese zodiac

with this years animal, the rooster, wearing a red rosette

Nearby a young man was burning his paper offerings for his ancestors

As we left the temple more cars were arriving, the best parking spots were reserved for the high end cars, including Porsches and Ferraris, which would be bringing in wealthy business men eager to bid for the incense burners.

Back on the coach we headed for our final stop of the night, it was now nearly 10pm and some people were flagging but we all soon were wide awake and absolutely fascinated by what was about to be the most bizarre part of the night.
We stopped somewhere in Ang Moh Kio outside another enormous tent, also especially erected for this year's Hungry Ghost Festival. Inside at one end there was a large stage with flashing lights and loud music playing and rows and rows of chairs- large audience was clearly expected here as well.

As well as appeasing the hungry ghosts with prayers, food, money and offerings they need to be entertained as well. Throughout the festival Getai (staged shows) are held, these shows were commonly of Chinese operas but apparently nowadays it is more likely to be a lively techno music show. 

We were told that we would be welcome at these shows but to remember not to sit in the empty seats on the front row, as this is received for the 'special guests'!

At the other end of the tent an altar area had been set up

The altar had been set up for the gods of the underworld 

there was a large table with bags of rice as offerings,I presumed much the same as the huge mound of rice that had been at the Budha Tooth Relic Temple

there was also a large table with baskets of gifts that would be distributed to the devotees during the festival

At the back of the tent on the right side was a small arch way and looking through it there was a scene 

with what looked like horses

and some more important looking 'people'. I'm afraid it was getting late and I was struggling to understand let alone retain all the information that was being passed on!

On the opposite corner there was another opening into a dark chamber and as we walked through things got seriously weird! 

I am no fan of horror movies or Halloween shows but the spooky interior was so strange that even I did not feel scared. There were plastic skeletons, fake cobwebs, a real Chinese coffin and a giant toy rooster!

There were strange glow in the dark patterns on the floor

and panels on the wall, again depicting the 10 Courts of Hell

In the centre of this secret chamber were 2 'mediums', both of whom were drinking alcohol to help them communicate with the spirit world, we were told this drink was 58% proof and they would consume several bottles throughout the evening without suffering any ill effects!. 

People were bringing their bowl of offerings and candles to the mediums

One of the mediums spotted our group and invited us to join him in a drink, it seemed rude to refuse! Thankfully we were all presented with the tiniest shot glasses I've ever seen but even so the shot of whatever the drink was, was extremely strong and we all politely refused a top up and swiftly made our exit.

 It really was a fascinating and at times fantastically bizarre evening, we saw a side of Singapore life that not many expats get to see. It also served as a reminder that no matter how modern Singapore may seem, most of the time,  it's definitely rooted and still influenced by ancient beliefs and customs. 

Egg-citement and egg-streme choices!

 When walking down Orchard Road the other day I saw a fire engine with it's lights flashing blocking off two of the car lanes, I then noticed several men clearing up something from the road

Looking a bit more closely it became clear that the men from the civil defence force were trying to shovel hundreds, maybe thousands of smashed eggs from the road and into bin bags. It looked a terrible mess and must have been quite a sticky job, it caused much amusement in the local press and on social media the following day

 Later that week I went shopping and eggs were on my list. I hoped the recent egg-cident had not affected what would be available, I needn't have worried, there were plenty of eggs on the supermarket shelves. 

I often buy eggs at the local market where there is generally a small but perfectly adequate range available.

In the supermarket it's a different matter and that day it struck me what a huge choice of eggs could be bought here, many of them unfamiliar to me.

There were several different brands selling what seem to be the usual chicken eggs, I presume these are from 'battery' hens. Most of the eggs are imported from Malaysia but there is one local supplier that produces 11% of Singapore's daily egg supply

Then there are the ones that come from kampongs. Kampong is the Malay word for village so this implies a more rurally produced egg

Then there are several different brands selling "1st Born Eggs". Before moving to Singapore I had never heard of first born eggs and had to look up what this means, apparently this refers to eggs laid by new hens in their first month of egg production and some claim they have a higher nutritional and lower cholesterol content due to being laid by young hens

Then there are eggs that are higher in Omega 3 or 6. These are produced when the hens diet has been enriched with omega fatty acids

Next there are "carrot eggs" which I also looked up, these hens are fed with alfalfa or marigold petals which then produce yolks with a high lutein content. Lutein has antioxidant properties and protects eye, skin and heart health 

Free range eggs seem to be quite hard to find but there were eggs laid by cage free hens

On the other hand quails eggs are easy to find both in the supermarket and the wet market and are generally cheaper to buy here than in the UK

Then there are the rather more' unusual' eggs, such as salted eggs 

Salted eggs are chicken or duck eggs that have been soaked in brine or packed in damp, salted charcoal paste for preserving, this gives the egg white a salty flavour after being cooked

And finally (as far as I could tell although there might have been more varieties but I was worried that the supermarket staff were getting suspicious of me taking photos and I didn't want to be arrested!).. are the "preserved" eggs also known as Century, Hundred Year Old or Thousand Years Old eggs.

 This is another traditional Chinese preserved food and considered a delicacy by many. The eggs are preserved in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime and rice hulls for several weeks or months

 So with this bewildering choice of eggs on sale it's not egg-actly easy choosing!