When flying ashes from Hungry Ghost burnt offerings make diners at Jalan Kayu fly away too

It’s Hungry Ghost month, which means that many Singaporeans will be remembering their dearly departed with burnt incense and joss papers.

But attitudes toward the time-honoured tradition may be changing, as more and more netizens appear to no longer view the practice as positively as they did before.

On Sunday (Jul 31), the ashes from the burning of Hungry Ghost offerings drove diners who had been eating outdoors at Jalan Kayu from their meals.

A woman named Lala had sent a video of the incident to crowdsourced news site Stomp, showing a woman and a man outside an establishment called Jane’s Cake Station burning incense at a drum, causing smoke and ashes to scatter widely.

The video also shows that the outdoor dining areas of the eateries beside Jane’s Cake Station were empty.

“The seventh lunar month is when there are prayers for Hungry Ghost and the burning of incense. A lot of understanding, tolerance, and civic-mindedness is practised during this period.

However, I was appalled when an F&B business owner ignored public hygiene by burning incense in front of their shop where there are other restaurants with outdoor customers around,” Ms Lala told Stomp.

She added that customers left because of the burning of the papers.

And even after one of the workers of the neighbouring eateries talked to the couple burning the incense, the man, and woman insisted this was not their problem. 

“As F&B business operators, they were oblivious to the hygienic issues of other F&B businesses. With the wind, the ashes were flying like snowflakes,” added Ms Lala.

Some netizens reacting to the incident said this should be tolerated since it only happens once a year.

Others, however, were less inclined to be tolerant.

Some netizens appeared to be resigned to the practice.

/TISG

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