Singapore Taoist priest says ghosts can ‘haunt you’ whether you knock on hotel room doors or not
If you’ve ever knocked before entering a hotel room because you were worried about ghosts, a Singaporean Taoist priest says you actually don’t need to.
Taoist priest amused by ‘new rule’
In a TikTok video posted on Tuesday (1 Sept), Taoist priest and content creator Lee Chee Tong was baffled by the “new rule” that hotel guests should not knock before entering.
This was supposedly because doing so would mean that “you agree to stay with the ghost”.
“Like, what do you mean?” he said, calling the idea the “stupidest thing ever”.
@qztaoism
According to Chee Tong, it would not matter much if the spirits really wanted to haunt someone.
“If the room is haunted, you knock on the door, or you don’t knock on the door, the ghost will still haunt you,” he said.
He said that he could understand another common practice of knocking before entering a hotel room.
This is believed to signal to any spirits in the room that a human guest is about to enter, giving them a chance to leave.
OP urges everyone to think with logic
Using humans as an analogy, Chee Tong reasoned that the idea at least made some sense.
“If you’re a human, you’re in the room, then somebody knock on your door. If they are supposed to stay here, of course you will go out of the room, right?” he said.
Chee Tong recounted a friend who knocked before entering hotel rooms, then cursed at any spirits inside.
Hearing this, he asked his friend: “Do you think it makes sense?”
Source: @qztaoism on TikTok
“You knock on the door is to tell them out of respect that you are trying to stay in the room, right?” he asked.
But then, if you start scolding them with vulgarities, they will probably change their mind.
“Eh, I don’t want to leave already. I coming to haunt you,” he said jokingly.
He also urged people not to blindly follow every piece of spiritual advice they hear. “Discern for yourself, please,” he concluded with a laugh.
Netizens explain why they knock, or don’t
A netizen shared jokingly that they only knock when staying in a “huge suite” because a ghost won’t stay in a “cheap deluxe twin-bedder”.
Source: TikTok
A TikTok user stopped knocking after their friend asked them: “What if something knocks back?”
Source: TikTok
Another netizen recounted how their Penang hotel room door refused to budge until a hotel staff member knocked on it three times.
Source: TikTok
OP urges everyone to be respectful
Speaking to MS News, Chee Tong, 26, said that his video was inspired by a social media post by Sophia Leung, the wife of Hong Kong actor Sam Lee.
She had shared that spirits reportedly followed her eight-year-old daughter home after a spooky stay at a hotel in Korea.
Her spiritual master later told her that she should not have knocked before entering the hotel room.
When asked if we should continue to knock before entering, Chee Tong said: “Personally, I recommend just being respectful. The spirits have their way, we have our way.”
“Usually they won’t disturb,” he added.
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Featured image adapted from @qztaoism on TikTok & DragonImages on Canva for illustration purposes only.
