Netizens lambast people who threw joss paper into canal

Singapore — Three individuals were caught on camera throwing joss paper into a canal recently, leading netizens to criticise them online.

While the Hungry Ghost Festival, observed on the fifteenth day of the event month of the lunar calendar, kicked off yesterday (Aug 22) when joss papers are traditionally burned as an offering to the departed, throwing them into a body of water is highly unusual.

Videos of the people throwing the joss papers were posted on the SG Road Vigilante and Singapore Road Accident Facebook and YouTube pages, and have been viewed, shared, and condemned by many.

According to the video uploaded on the SG Road Vigilante pages, the incident occurred at East Coast Park service road on Sunday evening (Aug 22) and that the people who were caught had been riding a Toyota Harrier.

Needless to say, many netizens who saw the video were unhappy about it.

One man wrote, “When coming to the Lunar 7th Month every year, Singapore become 3rd world country thanks to its citizen’s actions like what you had seen in the video.”

Others suggested that high fines are in order.

Many of the commenters were concerned about the pollution and the results of such pollution of the thrown joss papers were causing.

One netizen even connected them with the recent floods.

Several commenters said they believe that the joss papers had been thrown into the canal because “most likely they have loved one whom (sic) lost at sea.”

However, other netizens countered this.

/TISG

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Netizen wakes up to the smell of burning joss paper, notes lack of social distancing among those who took part