The placement of offerings laid out for the Hungry Ghost Festival in Chinatown, normally unremarkable, has been described by some as “inappropriate”.
That’s because photos posted in the Umbrage Singapore Facebook group showed that the offerings were placed in front of a large billboard that featured four Members of Parliament (MPs) for Jalan Besar GRC.
Source: Jerome Teo via Umbrage Singapore on Facebook
The images depicted tables filled with typical worship items such as joss sticks, incense burners, fruit and a roast pig.
Source: Jerome Teo via Umbrage Singapore on Facebook
However, they were dubiously positioned right in front of a billboard that wished residents a Happy 61st National Day.
It was adorned with the images of Minister for Digital Development and Information Josphine Teo, Minister of State for Education and Health Shawn Loh, Mayor of Central Singapore Denise Phua, and Dr Wan Rizal — the four MPs of Jalan Besar.
Devotees were even seen kneeling in prayer in front of the billboard.
Source: Jerome Teo via Umbrage Singapore on Facebook
This prompted some netizens to comment that the placement was inappropriate, while others saw fit to make jokes about it.
The bizarre scene was spotted on Saturday (15 Aug) afternoon along Banda Street, across from the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown, reported Shin Min Daily News.
The 75-year-old manager of a nearby coffeeshop, named only as Madam Zhao (transliterated from Mandarin), said the prayer event had no connection to the coffeeshop.
It was likely to have been organised by regular customers in the area — i.e. nearby residents and workers — who would usually pray there.
The prayer event was located at a different open space in previous years, but had to be moved to its current location this year as the other space was taken up by another event involving large balloons.
Mdm Zhao said that when the prayer event was organised, nobody thought that the location was inappropriate, just that it was being held in an open space.
But when the photos were circulated online, they realised that it was indeed inappropriate, she added.
She was not sure whether a permit had been obtained, but the town council had already contacted the coffeeshop, she noted.
She would try to locate the organiser and get him to liaise with the town council.
Source: Jerome Teo via Umbrage Singapore on Facebook
A 68-year-old nearby resident named Mr Yang (transliterated from Mandarin) told the Chinese daily that he did not pay much attention when he came across the scene at about 5pm on Saturday.
However, he found it “inauspicious” when he saw the photos online later.
Another resident, 73-year-old Madam Xie (transliterated from Mandarin), believed the placement was merely an oversight and the organisers probably did not realise that the offering table had been placed directly facing the MPs’ photos.
When reporters visited the site, the offering table had been removed, leaving only a few joss sticks on the ground.
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Featured image adapted from Jerome Teo via Umbrage Singapore on Facebook.