The Hungry Ghosts and how haze affects them

The haze is getting worse over here. I was at Tesco just now and wanted to capture a photo of the missing Penang Bridge but…..but…. I got this – ‘No CF Card’. Ish, I forget to put the card back to my camera.

I had been wondering what our local Penang folks are going to do with the worsening haze because Hungry Ghosts festival is going on full swing here. Every village, small town, pekan and even Gurney Drive have the offerings for Hungry Ghosts. Joss sticks which are about 8-10 feet high are often lined up in rows and the burning of the effigies of the gods of hades usually take place, causing big bon-fire.

And I find this from The Star:

The haze crisis is affecting not just humans but also residents of the netherworld.

The Taoist Federation of Malaysia has urged its members to cut back on the burning of prayer paraphernalia as well as giant dragon joss sticks during the Hungry Ghosts Festival from Aug 5 till Sept 3.

Its president B. S. Tan said this move was being taken to prevent the situation from getting worse.

The members, he said, would “inform” the gods as well as the “brothers” or the hungry ghosts about this decision during the prayer sessions.

“The gods and ‘brothers’ will understand about our current environmental condition, and they will not be upset with us as long as we inform them about it,” he said yesterday.

Now, this is bad. Even the netherworld are angry with Sumatra.

11 thoughts on “The Hungry Ghosts and how haze affects them

  1. Guess what? I WAS at Tesco just now and went over to e-gate to capture the missing Penang bridge… Guess what?

    My phone is always Ready with a camera! MUahahaha….

    But you know… There ARE plenty of CF cards inside Tesco anyway.. 😛

  2. Oi, oi, gentlemen, the haze is bad liao. Nanti you all start flame, I cannot breathe leh. Serious, I took the article from the newspaper. Mr Tan is the chairman or something.

  3. 8dee… its bad already.. might as well make the best out of the situation.. should burn more for the dead.. 😀

  4. Rodney – Hey, you got a point there!

    8dee – It is not a very big deal here. I had been in and out of the home the whole day and nothing dramatic happened. The sky is clear now because it is very breezy.

    BigBoK – Yeah, and always missing the most important moments.

  5. a shout out to penangites from Haze Haters! we would kindly like to request our friends up north to submit your pictures to our site since the smog has come your way… Klang Valley folks wanted to take pictures when they were free during the weekend, but now its at your side! We are hoping we can count on you, here’s to stopping the burning!
    cheers & please spread the word!

  6. Hey, how come they don’t ask they good brothers to go and pee on the fires in Sumatra???

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