Netizen says uncleared Hungry Ghost Month food offerings are reason for Singapore’s rat infestation

A man posted a photo of containers of Hungry Ghost Month food offerings along a road, claiming that they are responsible for the country’s rodent problem.

On Aug 27, a netizen named Fook Leong Leu wrote on the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook page, “After prayer don’t clear the offerings. This is why infested with rats. Don’t be afraid the cleaner has nothing to do, cleaners are really busy cleaning up the entire Singapore everyday.”

However, not all the commenters agreed with Mr Fook, with some pointing out that there has been a lot of improvement compared to years ago. 

Hmmm… we don’t know if ghosts are actually hungry when they come around, but we do know that rats would jump at the chance to eat any kind of food they find.

For those who don’t know, the Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated on the 14th or 15th day of the seventh month of the Chinese Calendar, when the gates of hell are open and the hungry spirits of ancestors are said to roam the earth looking for food and other things that would please them.

Descendants, therefore, place offerings, including food and burnt “money” offerings for their ancestors, making sure to do this some steps away from their homes, so as not to invite the ghosts inside.

Peanuts, fruit, candy, raw noodles or even meat are common food offerings, and as for beverages, descendants are known to offer tea and rice wine. These offerings are said to invite luck and prosperity to the families that offer them.

And while the poster seemed very unhappy with the food left as offerings, other commenters tried to get him to be more understanding of traditions, arguing that this only happens once a year.

Others argued that the situation with food and other offerings, especially burned notes, is already better than what it was in the past.

Some netizens, however, said they pitied the cleaners who have to deal with the mess from the offerings.

And other commenters said that because this is a tradition older people practice, they expect it to “phase out soon” as not many younger ones may continue with the tradition.

/TISG

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