Ghost money,
orphan ghosts, and
hungry ghosts are all part of
The Feast of Hungry Ghosts celebrated on September 6th every year by
Singaporean
Chinese. They believe that the
souls of the
dead roam the earth in the month of
September. On the sixth, people offer gifts to the
spirits of their
ancestors and for "orphan ghosts" who have no one to care for them.
Gifts are usually food, clothes, and fake paper money called "ghost money". The Singaporean Chinese believe that if this money is burned, the ghost spirits will get the "ghost" of the money. Food and clothes that are offered can be taken from the altar at a later date so that the spirits can have the "ghosts" of the food and clothing.
I once had
dinner at a friend's house whose parents practice this
holiday. They didn't have any
dessert prepared so my friend's mom told him to get some
pears from another room. I was confused since I knew that these were offered for his
grandfather's spirit, but he explained that since his grandfather was a ghost, he could eat the
ghost of the pears.