Chinese Ghost Festival ft. Ramadan
So today is the start for our Moslem friends all around the world to begin their fasting of their Ramadhan, which is also coincidentally held together with the 2nd day of the Hungry Ghost Festival month!
Being raised in a quite fuddy duddy Chinese family, I,me, myself was kinda mazedly whirled in the this twist between fiction and tradition.
Hungry Ghost Festival
This festival runs throughout the seventh month of the Chinese calendar. It is believed that the gates of hell open during this period and hungry ghosts are allowed to roam freely into our world. Though not a public holiday, this is the time where one can see many people perform various rites to appease the wandering ghosts, such as offering food and burning joss paper. One can also see traditional performances such as Chinese opera which are held to appease these ghosts (getai/song stage performance).
*the front blank seats were believed to be reserved for the 'spirits'*
I still remember how i almost broke my arm when i was 8 after spouting nonsenses things during these months.Parents would always remind us not to drive recklessly,stay away from going out at night, avoid coming back home late, restrain from bad words, foolish actions,avoid planning trips and many more!
Aside from appeasing those 'hungry' spirits, it was also believed that chinese would give those offerings like fruits, joss sticks,joss papers to protect the families and loved ones from those 'wandering' spirits throughout the moths.
1st day of the HGF-15th day-and the last day of it, you'd expect to see your chinese neighbours performing religious rites along the street and valley...
Ramadan is the most sacred holiday of the Muslim year and is mandated by the Qur'an . It occurs in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is the holy month of fasting. Fasting is considered to be the third pillar or religious obligation of Islam and provides many benefits including learning self-control. This results from a lack of preoccupation with satisfying bodily appetites during the daylight hours. Ramadan is a time of worship, reading the Qur'an, charitable acts, and the purification of individual behavior.
which means during this month i cant simply bring an ice cream cone and lick it along the way, drink nor eat at traffic lights omw to school, ask Marta and Dinda to join me for a bowl of Bakso Pak Dhe after school.. BTW kalo puasa bakso pak dhe ada buka gak yah!?!?!
but the best thing of all, i can creep along the "pasar kaget" which is only available in loco housing complexes which is meant to sell the foods for the break fast later on! its more like a food bazaar to me !!
so, okay! gotta go now! have to wake up pretty early tomoorow to accompany mom to the wet market! huh! hah!
Selamat menunaikan ibadah puasa =)
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