Come home earlier, be careful where you step, don’t whistle once the sun has set — it’s that time of the year again.
The 7th month of the lunar calendar, otherwise known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, is coming soon.
Now that Covid-19 has come to our shores, one joss paper stall has decided that the spirits will need the same now-ubiquitous accessory as humans do when roaming Singapore’s streets: masks.
The joss paper industry has always kept up with the times.
From extravagant paper houses and cars to cutting-edge paper mobile phones, you can find almost anything at these stalls.
Thus, since Singapore made face masks mandatory wearing for everyone outside the home back in April, it’s actually not too surprising to see them turn up at a joss paper stall — it’s just the industry keeping itself up to date again.
The paper masks were even labelled as “masks for ancestors”.
It looks like this stall owner thought that despite being dead, our ancestors should be wary of Covid-19 too as they roam our streets.
A netizen shared the photo in a humourous post to a Facebook group.
He even cheekily added that anyone who needs a mask for the Hungry Ghost Festival can contact him.
Netizens couldn’t help but see the funny side, and had a good time making jokes.
A user commented that she could give a paper mask like to that to those who refuse to obey the mask-wearing rule.
Another netizen wisecracked that the spirits won’t be coming this year as the gates of hell won’t be open — because that they don’t have “green lane agreement” with Singapore.
But with Singapore allowing certain travellers in, some said that the spirits would need to serve a Stay-Home Notice of 14 days.
One netizen even quipping that they should sell updated mobile phones with the SafeEntry function.
The Hungry Ghost Festival is typically a serious affair steeped with superstitions, beliefs and rituals. It’s a time where senses are heightened at the thought of spirits wandering our streets.
For many, it’s also a time to pay homage to their deceased loved ones.
But it seems netizens couldn’t help but find some humour amid the seriousness, as we’re about to experience the festival as it coincides with an unprecedented global pandemic.
Anything to keep our spirits up, we guess.
Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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