Hungry Ancestors and Dead People on my way to Work

On Friday, outside of my "office," I saw people praying in a tent. I could only see it from the side, but I saw Buddhist monks (orange wrap, shaved head, and all) and other people who seemed to go in, do something and then leave.

This morning, on my way to work, I noticed that in that tent was a picture of a woman. Behind that picture there was a coffin. There was a dead person in that tent!

My office is on the bottom floor of an HDB (government housing) in a not-so-well-to-do area. I learned that the space on the first floor is used for Chinese wakes as well as Malay weddings. They said if people look happy, it's usually a wedding. By the end of the day today, the whole tent was gone. Apparently they then burn the body and keep the ashes. Sieks apparently get burned and then they scatter the ashes. I learned this because my Siek co-worker's bunny died, and she didn't know what to do with the ashes, because she was scared of being arrested for littering (which is a major offense here). Only in Singapore.

Last night it was POURING. Matt and I were in bed thinking that it really smelled like something was burning. We heard that the Indonesians burn their forests in the fall and the smoke travels with the wind to Singapore, so we thought that maybe it was that. I said it really smelled like smothering fire - like when you put your campfire out before you go in your tent.

It all became clear this morning when I left work. There was incense, fruit, burning cans, piles of burning papers...EVERYWHERE in my work's HDB complex! I asked my co-workers, and they said that it's the start of the 7th lunar month in the Chinese calendar (happy rosh chodesh). This is apparently the most unlucky month (though I am pretty sure that 4 is the most unlucky number which sucks for Joe Dumars and Chris Webber). The truth is that I would rather get a good night's sleep tonight than do a bit of research, so that will have to wait until another day, but from what I know, the Chinese are worshiping their ancestors through leaving fruit (and we even saw some cakes and cookies) for them, burning incense and burning money (though I don't think it's real - I do NOT think Chinese people would burn money).

Matt and I got to walk through more HDB buildings on the way to Mandarin, and we saw tons of things burning. They all do it on the side of the sidewalk, or on the side of the road. The one that confused me is the whole system set up outside of the factory across the street from our complex. Did their ancestors live in that factory? I don't get it, but I will learn more this week. I also hope to take pictures of these crazy set ups.