The Pandemic Is Sucking the Life Out of Ghost Month in Asia

Believers say the gates of heaven and hell are opened once a year — on the 15th day of the seventh month in the Chinese lunar calendar — to let out hordes of weary and tormented ghosts and spirits. According to Chinese culture, these ghosts are allowed to roam freely among us for an entire month, feasting and seeking out entertainment, basically enjoying some much-needed rest and respite from torment in the afterlife. Ghosts deserve a break from eternal suffering too. 

This is a period when stranger things have been known to happen. Businesses avoid holding celebratory events because it’s considered to be in bad taste during the most inauspicious month, and families don’t buy property or move into new homes. Children are also told not to go swimming after sunset or stay out late at night, to avoid unwanted attention from wandering spirits. People are advised to not kick joss sticks along the road or step on paper offerings. They also shouldn’t leave umbrellas open or kill moths, butterflies, or grasshoppers that might appear in their home — they could be reincarnated relatives just paying a harmless visit. 

It’s usually a pretty eventful few weeks in places like Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. But like everything else in 2020, the pandemic has led to a different kind of ghost month. 

“Every year we respect the ghosts who visit us on earth but this year, they have to respect us by following new rules and regulations,” said Taoist practitioner Lu Dai, who laughed at the thought of ghosts being subjected to mandatory temperature checks and safety screenings upon their return to earth. 

“I don’t know if taking temperatures would make any difference to spirits given that they are dead already.” 

“I am sure that our deceased ancestors must be wondering why they’ve received less offerings ahead of the Hungry Ghost Festival this year,” he told VICE from his shop selling spiritual tablets and religious charms in Singapore’s Chinatown. “They can blame the government for putting controls on our traditions.” 

Temples normally mark the festival by holding mass prayers and chanting sessions to honour the dead. Families gather in open spaces to pay respects to deceased ancestors by burning effigies and paper incense, and lighting candles along roads and pathways to guide wandering ghosts. To appease restless and starving spirits, others leave out food offerings of sweets, fruits, roast meat, and even cooked dishes like rice, stir-fried vegetables, and fried noodles, by the sides of roads and bus stops — in exchange for a little good fortune. 

But the coronavirus has sucked the life out of this year’s ghost festival, which fell on August 19. Gone too are the traditional gatherings and worship sessions, quirky funeral fashion shows, and lively outdoor performances (known locally across Singapore and Malaysia as getai) by Chinese opera troupes. 

In Singapore, where social distancing remains the norm, a 50-person cap, down from thousands of devotees, was placed by religious organizations on all ghost month-related activities. 

“Worshippers can still express their filial piety in a safe and responsible manner to protect themselves and others,” Venerable Kwang Phing of the Singapore Buddhist Foundation told the newspaper Straits Times. 

The government also advised against outdoor gatherings among citizens during this year’s ghost month, doing away with colourful and lively ghost opera performances that defined the festival, and placing heavy restrictions on worshipper numbers at temples — all in an effort to keep COVID transmissions low.

Ghosts and living beings looking to relax and enjoy the getai operas have to do with a different type of show, as veteran performers like Wang Lei took to live streaming their performances on Facebook. But it just wasn’t the same.

“I miss the noise, the bustling atmosphere and the feeling of the live band, even the police cars that come to handle noise complaints,” the 59-year-old performer, who has been staging shows for the past 22 years, told the newspaper Today. 

Organizers were also hit hard. “The seventh month is our busiest month but with this year’s restrictions, our usual 20 or more performances have all been cancelled,” a member of an opera troupe told the Straits Times.

You could say that 2020 has been a bad year for all — both living and the dead. But like with all things, people learned to adapt. While this year’s ghost month was quieter and scaled-down, people are getting creative with innovative and timely offerings, like this shop in Hong Kong that came up with joss paper face masks. Artists in Hong Kong also burned paper made to look like protest gear and ballot boxes.

Online, people found humour in the thought of ghosts trying to navigate the new world. 

“Please practise social distancing and don’t come near me and my kids,” commented local actress Mindee Ong on Instagram. 

Malaysian netizen Say Beng Teoh quipped that the undead might not even make it to earth, what with all the quarantine required of travellers. 

“Not many ghosts from hell will be making their annual trip to earth this year because they will have to spend 14 days in quarantine upon arrival and spend another 14 days in quarantine back in hell so that will leave them with only two full days to enjoy their trip roaming around freely on earth,” he said on Facebook. “Besides, that will be boring too this year because all public shows have been cancelled due to social distancing measures.” 

Others imagined ghosts having to do safe entry check-ins, now mandatory in all establishments around Singapore. How will they do it if they don’t have smartphones? Oh, the horror. 

But hey, at least the hungry ghosts of Asia have the luxury of leaving our COVID world and return to the norms of the afterlife. The rest of us who need to stick it out for the unforeseeable future will just have to continue adjusting to the new norms of living.