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Minor Issues: Are ghosts real? And other pesky questions kids ask
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Most people seem to enjoy the spookiness of the annual Hungry Ghost Festival season, says the writer.
ST ILLUSTRATION: MANNY FRANCISCO
Raymond Goh
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SINGAPORE – The annual Hungry Ghost Festival is nearly upon us. Some quarters of the Chinese community believe that during the seventh month of the lunar calendar – between Aug 23 and Sept 21 in 2025 – the gates of hell will be thrown open and unleash a host of ghosts into the human realm.
These spirits are a hungry lot and, upon arrival, will feed on the offerings laid out by humans. Offerings such as sugar-laden cakes, breads and biscuits, as well as incinerated joss sticks and charred joss paper, all of which leads me to suspect that these poor souls have no fear of diabetes nor taste buds.
