by Sugen Ramiah

It was the ninth day  of the seventh lunar month, and I have been busy documenting rituals and customary practices of the Hungry Ghost Festival. Every temple or ‘sintua’ (a group of devotees with no temple and who  gather in a place which host the deity statues and censers)  has its own designated date, to perform cleansing rituals for the wandering souls. Released into the human realm,  these are souls  who have no one to remember them and assuage their suffering by making them offerings.  This year I was fortunate to have been invited by the members of ‘Xuan Jiang Dian’ (Tortoise Hill) temple, to observe their seventh month memorial service.

Due to lack of space at the temple’s premises, a temporary tentage was set up in an open car park located in Bukit Merah View. Preparatory rituals had begun earlier that day, performed by visiting priests from China. These rituals were to cleanse and protect the holding ground from negative elements.

Preparatory rites at the tentage in Bukit Merah View (photo Sugen Ramiah)

Members of the temple and fellow Brownies(the volunteers at Bukit Brown) gathered in the late afternoon and were greeted by the thunderous sounds of the temple’s newly formed gongguan (percussion) troupe.

Temples newly formed gongguan’ troupe (photo Sugen Ramiah)

We left the premises just before 7pm to gather lost souls from two different locations. The first was at the East Coast Park beach, followed by  Bukit Brown cemetery. When we reached our first destination, a temporary altar was set up and chanting accompanied by the sounds of cymbals and drums began.

The Chinese believe that once a soul departs from its mortal body, it loses its direction.  Lanterns help to light the way for the soul. Since they were going to call on many souls, a two metre long paper inscription fixed to an extended bamboo branch was used;  It was to ensure maximum visibility for the souls. As the priests sang, the branch was flagged rhythmically according to the melody. Once the lanterns returned to ashore, offerings of paper money were burnt and the gongguan troupe received the wandering guests with their music.

lanterns to be released into the sea (photo Sugen Ramiah)

Rituals at East Coast Park Beach (photo Sugen Ramiah)

The altar was  then dismantled and we proceeded to our next destination, the Bukit Brown Cemetery. As the convoy led by the gongguan transported on a brightly decorated  truck, turned into the Sime Road, the gleaming LED lights of the truck, glowed in the poorly lit road. The deafening clangs and gongs must have awakened the neighbouring residents including the residents of Bukit Brown. As the truck drove past the cemetery gates, the buses  stopped at the T-junction of Sime and Kheam Hock Roads with Jalan Halwa. A few of us alighted and ran through the cemetery gates with heightened anticipation.

As we entered, the vision of a trail of lighted candles against the backdrop of the night sky, took our breathe away.

Embracing lost souls (photo Victor Yue)

Rituals at Bukit Brown Cemetery (photo Sugen Ramiah)

The temporary altar was once more erected, but this time they placed a special tablet dedicated to the lost souls of Bukit Brown. As the priests chanted and called upon the countless souls, I was moved by their rituals. Unlike the powers that be who have abandoned them,  I was glad there were still Samaritans who remembered them.

These are the souls of ancestors who have been long forgotten, infants and the unsung heroes who died tragically during the war. To give them temporary lodging, meals to feed their hunger and prayers to purify their weary souls, is by far the greatest act of kindness and filial piety.

As the priests circled the roundabout, there was a sense of closure in the air, as though the souls have found the light. To conclude the rituals, paper money was burnt as an offering and the gongguan troupe signaled the close of the ceremony at Bukit Brown.

Rituals at Bukit Brown Cemetery (photo Suge Ramiah)

It was time to return to Bukit Merah for the concluding rites. We alighted along the main road, about five hundred metres away from the holding ground and lined up for a procession. The gongguan troupe on the glittering LED flower truck led the way. Following immediately behind,   the tablet dedicated to the wandering souls, the lanterns carried by  devotees and participants holding joss sticks. This drew the attention of the residents in the neighbourhood and the people eating at the hawker centre.

As we marched triumphantly down the street with our “guests”, we felt that we had accomplished something meaningful: We had  found and acknowledged in our hearts,  the forgotten souls of Bukit Brown.

Rituals at Bukit Brown Cemetery (photo Sugen Ramiah)

Sugen Ramiah a teacher by training, has been observing and documenting Chinese festivals and rituals conducted by temples for the past one and half years.