I came to NUS around 2010 and I have been living in Singapore for about two years now. It was the first time I had ever visited Singapore. Naturally, many of Singapore’s customs were completely new to me. Take the Hungry Ghost Festival for example. For those of you who don’t know, it is a Chinese tradition of feeding wandering spirits during the seventh month of the lunar calendar and lasts for the whole month. They offer the dead sumptuous meals: meats, fish, fruits, cakes and alcohol; you name it!
The spooky meal...
So, when I first saw these bulks of unattended food just lying around, I was quite surprised. I didn’t know what to make of it. It was clear no one intended on eating it, nobody even spared a second glance at it as if it was completely normal to keep nicely decorated food lying on the sidewalk. Among the passers-by, it was only me who was inspecting the whole situation. I did try to be as inconspicuous as I can get. I was thinking to myself, why would anyone throw away food like that? Was it rotten? It didn’t look like it; the food looked fresh and was well decorated. I also saw little incenses were lit up beside the food. This made me further curious about the whole situation. I didn’t know whom to ask about this little mystery. Suddenly, an auntie came out of nowhere and offered me some of the food! I was taken aback, and refused politely. She noticed I was staring at the food all along and must have assumed I was hungry! I quickly fled from the spot.
Afterwards, I asked a local friend of mine about this. He was the one who enlightened me about the Ghost Festival. Apparently, Chinese communities in Malaysia and Singapore believe that the gates of Hell open on the 7th lunar month, freeing the spirits of the dead to roam in the world of the living. The living, in turn, must make offerings of food and burnt prayer money to the souls of the dead to appease them.
When I told him about the brief encounter with the auntie, he burst into laughter. He said those food are eventually eaten by the less privileged. And the auntie must have thought I belong to the same group. It was so embarrassing. If only I knew about this festival earlier! A little knowledge about others’ cultures goes a long way. When I reflect back on the experience today, I see how inexperienced I was at communicating with strangers from a different culture. I could have easily handled the situation by asking the auntie what was going on. Instead I just got nervous due to being new to this country and made a complete fool of myself. Well, I guess that’s the price you pay for being unable to communicate effectively.
Hey Hasan :D
ReplyDeleteThank you for the blog post. It was an enjoyable read. I like how it was clear that you were puzzled by all the food lying around. I think I would have found myself wondering the same things had I been in your situation. So much wasted food on the sidewalks. The different cultures in SIngapore truly is quite a spectacle to behold. Something I would think, you can hardly find elsewhere. In case you are more interested in the Chinese customs or more particularly a peculiar Taoist tradition in Thailand, you can check out The Vegetarian Festival. Just a word of caution, you might be shocked by what you see.
I thought it was great that you did not hold on to your initial assumptions and went on further to ask your friend regarding the customs. Imagine if you had concluded so easily that the Chinese in Singapore like to waste food. Being open and not jumping to conclusions is one of the essential things you can do to be more inter culturally competent.
Good post.
Cheers,
Hakeem
Hey Hakeem!
DeleteThanks for your insightful inputs. I am glad that you liked this post. I was indeed dumbfounded the first time I saw those food lying around.
But did you have to refer me to The Vegetarian Festival? I did a google search and I still regret it, haha. Shocking? More like terrifying, to say the least.
Anyway, yes you are absolutely right that we have to follow up on others' seemingly puzzling cultures, which we might not understand at a first glance. But a little research can help us get wiser and more acceptive of them. Also, I personally find the history or myths behind customs/cultures like this are almost always very interesting. So learning the histories behind them is actually fun!
Thanks again for the feedback. Really appreciate it.
Hey Hasan,
ReplyDeleteThank you for an interesting post. I have been in Singapore for more than three years but never heard about such a festival. I believe my cultural awareness needs a quick update.
I completely enjoyed reading your experience. As I was reading I thought of different possible explanations for such a display. Back in India, for some of the festivals we first offer the food to God. It is believed that it becomes holy after the offering. Subsequently we give the food to the less privileged or have it ourselves as 'prasad'.
I think your post has effective transitions. I really like the way you describe the experience. I am very amused by the lady's response and your reaction after that. Somehow I can imagine how awkward it must had been for you. Interestingly, cultural understandings play an important role in shaping our behavior. Your being unaware of the customs of the Ghost Festival made you behave the way you did. The most important thing to consider is that though it was unintentional it led to misunderstandings.
Thanks again! Yes indeed we all can become more culturally competent. :)
@hakeem Thanks for introducing another festival from Thailand. I feel the vegetarian festival is one of those traditions that do more harm than good to society. Ramon can enlighten us more on this.
Thanks Hasan!
Aditi
Thanks Aditi for the extensive reply. I can't believe you never heard of this festival. I think you must have seen these food lying around somewhere, you just didn't look into it.
DeleteI do know that in India you offer food to God. But as far as I know, they are offered inside a temple, correct me if I am wrong. But these food are offered on the streets. So, I guess that is a fundamental difference between the two rituals.
I do agree that we should be more aware of each others cultures so that we can function properly as a society. Singapore being a multicultural country, it is all the more important to be culturally aware.
Lastly, I am glad that you enjoyed reading my post. Thanks a lot for your feedback!
Thanks, Hasan, for this detailed description of your initial impression and reaction to the Hungry Ghost Festival. I like your vivid portrayal of the offering, your eventual discovery of what the festival (and offering) were about and the auntie who you met. The photo, which I assume is your own, is also very effective.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that bothers me about this description is when you state that the food was "just lying around." Is that actually true? For me it makes the offering sound randomly assembled. Is that really the case?
In any case, I appreciate your effort and the discussion here.
Thanks a lot Brad for appreciating the post. I am glad you liked it. The photo however is not taken by me, I took it from Flickr.
DeleteNow that you mention it the food was actually not "just lying around". It was not randomly assembled as my description might have suggested. The food was actually quite well assembled. I should have been more accurate and careful with my description. I will keep this in my mind when writing future posts.
Thanks a lot for the valuable input, it really helps and motivates me to try to improve my writing.