KEEPING SPIRITS

As dusk settled over Lim Chu Kang Chinese Cemetery, incense smoke curled through weathered tombstones, carrying the faint scent of burnt offerings.

- Brian Teo Photojournalist

Qing Yi Dian temple manager Ivan Ee (centre) placing soil in a miniature coffin for good luck at Lim Chu Kang Chinese Cemetery, guided by his son Yi Hong (left), the spirit medium, and assisted by temple volunteer Lin Shifeng. Mr Ivan Ee singing during a getai performance at Lim Chu Kang Chinese Cemetery on Sept 12 as volunteers watched and danced. The performance was meant to entertain both the living and the departed spirits.

By nightfall, music and lights spilled into the darkness as a getai show a lively mix of song, dance, and comedy came alive deep in the cemetery, where the living kept the dead company.

The Hungry Ghost Festival is rooted in the belief that the gates of hell open in the seventh lunar month, allowing spirits to return to the living world.

The spirit realm is often seen as a place of suffering, home to those without proper burials or forgotten by families. The festival gives the living a chance to honour the souls and remind them that they are not alone.

At the heart of Qing Yi Dian temple's observance is Mr Ivan Ee, 56, who manages the place with 20 to 30 volunteers, most of them relatives and friends.

During this year's festival, which ran from Aug 23 to Sept 21, the volunteers prepared feasts for the wandering spirits and burnt paper offerings of bathrooms and recreational spaces, which were symbolic of the daily comforts the departed once enjoyed.