The Hungry Ghost Festival is certainly nothing new to a lot of people around this globe. Let’s face it, as long as there are Chinese, you will never miss out the chance to see a colorful something for every occasion. The Chinese have got the Chinese New Year, the Cheng Beng (the equivalent of the Chinese All Soul’s Day), the celebration of a new born baby, birthdays, weddings; I mean, just name it! But if there is a festival of which the community tends to be more a little more solemn and superstitious about, it certainly has got to be the Hungry Ghost Festival. What this occasion has in common with the others is basically – food! Except this time, the feasting isn’t for the living!

Some may argue that the Chinese do the same for Cheng Beng, that the food brought to the graves are an offering to the loved ones who have passed. However, others have countered this and say that the food brought over was in fact, not as offerings for the dead, but merely food for the living. This was because in the old days, family members travelled long distances to visit and clean the graves of their ancestors and simply needed to eat. As it was customary to bring food, the generations that went by somehow misinterpreted the customs and instead used the food as offerings.

As for the Hungry Ghost Festival, the food mentioned here are indeed offerings for the dead. The dead does not specifically mean somebody related to someone but for the ghosts and spirits that wonder the streets at night. On the 7th month of the Chinese calendar, which is usually about mid August or seven months from the Chinese New Year, the gates of hell open up for the ghost and spirits to roam the earthfor a month. As PenangIsland is a state with a high ethnic Chinese majority, it is no surprise to see all sorts of food offerings and paper money being burned on the streets during the first and the fifteenth day of this festival. However, there are groups of Chinese who also pray to the ancestors during this time, by placing offerings of food consisting of rice, drinks, various dishes and sometimes even an entire roast pig. Paper money is also burned, equating it to transferring cash to the bank account of the ancestors in the underworld

This is the time of the year where older folks will warn the younger generation not to go out after dark. It is believed that some of these tormented spirits that are out to roam the earth are here to look for a replacement, an act of taking one of the living so that they may be reborn again in their place. Sidewalks are seen littered with servings of food, small cups filled with tea, and joss sticks and paper money are burned, believing that after the dead have taken the food, they will need the paper money to bribe the guards of hell to avoid being punished for any misconduct during the month. Some even say that the food actually becomes tasteless after the dead have partaken of it. The offerings are given to appease the dead so that they will not cause harm or disturbance to the family. Seen after in the morning would be just left over food on the streets that are either thrown away or eaten by the stray dogs.