Kuala Lumpur, Aug 14: Malaysia's Chinese community has been celebrating the Hungry Ghosts festival. Malaysia's large Chinese community this week began celebrating the Hungry Ghosts Festival.
The festival falls on the seventh month of the Chinese lunar year during which the Chinese believe the gates of hell are left open to free hungry ghosts who wander to seek food on Earth. To prevent untoward events, they celebrate the festival to remember their ancestors and pay tribute with offerings to appease the deceased and ward off bad luck.
In the capital Kuala Lumpur and other Malaysian towns, offerings of pastry and fruits are made as Chinese priests conduct rituals and burn joss sticks to welcome their ghostly relations. The community also puts on Chinese opera shows and entertainers sing the latest pop songs in the evening to entertain the wandering ghosts.
The climax of the festival is on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month when the Chinese burn "hell money" and other material offerings made of paper.
A giant Hell Guardian idol made of paper is also paraded and burnt.
Chinese people believe such offerings will reach the ghosts and help them live comfortably in the underworld. Bureau Report