The gates of Hell are open. The ghosts of the long dead are roaming the streets. And they are hungry.
No, this is not a poor tagline from the next Sam Raimi splatter, but premise for the Hungry Ghost Festival going on for the current lunar month in Singapore. Based on Taoist and Buddhist traditions this is the time to remember those who have passed away...
...and feed their everlasting hunger with burning incense, Hell bank notes (apparently that's their local currency) and of course iPads (made of paper though). What a way for modern life to meet with old traditions! One of my local friends of Peranakan descent mentioned that someone had been wondering out loud whether they should burn paper made electric generators and battery chargers along with these gadgets. The half creepy part of the festivities is to make sure that there are always empty seats reserved for the dead in any musical performances during this time.
I had not heard of this Yu Lan festival before moving to Singapore. Quite honestly this does sound pretty weird to me. Then again, Lutheran tradition of feasting on the body and blood of a zombie-son of God at the Holy Communion must sound at least as far fetched and out of this world for outsiders. It is just a matter of perspective.
I came across this enlightening blog entry regarding many dos and don'ts of the Hungry Ghost festival. I was happy on behalf of all Finnish Nokia stock owners to see in the picture in the blog that the dead still crave for those Nokia phones from their more lively days. Sadly though looking at the current market share results it is pretty much only the dead who are hungry for Nokia anymore...
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