Singapore’s Hungry Ghost festival littered with challenges over improper burning of joss paper

Despite efforts to educate Singaporeans about proper joss paper burning during the Hungry Ghost Festival, litter and complaints persist

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Singapore tackles public cleanliness issues during Hungry Ghost festival, as devotees face criticism for littering after offerings burning. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 12:00pm, 5 Sep 2024Updated: 1:46pm, 5 Sep 2024

Despite government efforts to raise awareness of the proper burning of joss paper and effigies in designated areas, litter from ash, uneaten food offerings and “ghost money” are still found strewn around public housing estates in squeaky-clean Singapore every August and September.

The period marks the Hungry Ghost festival, which takes place in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, during which believers observe the Chinese practice of burning offerings to the dead, which includes miniature paper cut-outs replicating afterlife luxuries.

Sociologists say the government has launched a ground-up approach by asking religious and community leaders to educate the community, but lingering tensions among residents over public cleanliness speak to the challenges facing multi-ethnic and religious societies like Singapore.

A Reddit post of a densely packed housing block walkway covered in ashes and unburnt offerings and questioning if it was “reportable” was uploaded on Tuesday and has since garnered more than 120 upvotes.

One user questioned: “Is it also part of their religious practice for other people to clean up for them?” while another wrote: “You can get [the] town council to come clean it. But that is all they can do. Inconsiderate people are still going to be littering and polluting the air non-stop.”