Are ghosts real? And other pesky questions kids ask

It seems easier to explain the birds and the bees than to rationalise the supernatural

- Raymond Goh

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.

Our efforts to appease the hungry ghouls go beyond the catering of this mediocre picnic. There is also a long list of rules we must abide by during the nocturnal hours of the seventh lunar month.

For instance, you should not stay out late at night, you should not take any photographs and you should never, ever look at your reflection in a mirror. (Those dance-club female toilet selfies? They need to stop, girlfriend.) The list goes on. Don't swim, or malevolent spirits might drown you. Don't go gallivanting in odd-numbered groups because you will be more susceptible to supernatural harassment than when in pairs.

And don't turn around if you hear someone call your name.

A true human friend in our modern world would eschew any awkward human interaction and choose to DM you from 5m away instead.

THE BIRDS AND BEES... AND BOGEYMEN Despite all the trouble it entails, most people seem to enjoy the spookiness of the season. We trade seventh-month ghost stories with glee, and there is always a particularly good haunting that "actually happened to a secondary school classmate's second cousin from his stepmother's side". (Then it has to be true, right?)