Seventh Month Mon 13 to Tue 14 August 2007 (7M01-7M02) In the area where I work, the Seventh Month seems to be healthy enough. On the Monday evening (13 Aug or 7M01), I walked around to see what was happening in the Bugis/Bras Brasah area. People in Bras Brasah Complex, Purvis and Seah Street were already burning or preparing to burn offerings even before sunset. Bras Brasah Complex already had their usual table out. Forgot to check whether people were buring on the fifth floor roof as well: I seem to recall seeing a bin up there before.

Walking to the Bugis Village area after 8pm, there were piles of burning paper as well as ash piles everywhere. Cheng Yan Place next to Bugis Village was especially crowded - I counted 13 small piles and 3 large onees with people preparing more piles for burning. There were also two converted oil drums being used.

By around 8pm, people were burning offerings thick and fast outside Bras Brasah Complex - the place looked like a scene from the CChristian hell with flames and smoke along the length of the sidewalk. One father was with his daughter lighting a pile - obviously residents from the HDB block above.

On Queen Street between Bugis Village and the Cheng Yan HDB blocks, I saw three wire mesh cages along the road being used to burn offerings - they are quite spectacular sights. Later, walking through an industrial estate in Eunos, I noticed that almost half the companies there showed evidence of having burnt offerings. One place was preparing a pile of paper a metre in diameter! Seems that every hawker centre and bus interchange I passed has a table out and is burning offerings.

After Victor dropped me outside his place in Chinatown, I went over to People's Park Centre where the hedge was lined with offerings and a couple of bins filled with ash stood nearby. Stray unburnt papers were being slowly tumbled by the gentle breeze along the sidewalk.

After midnight, I persuaded Victor to drive round Shenton Way to check for burning activites. I saw two - both spotted by a row of flickering candlelights. Hope the ladies preparing the second site weren't scared by my sudden appearance with a camera!

It's a refreshing change from the standard pre-printed template that is everywhere these days:

At Poh Chiak Keng, I spotted this handwritten notice on the entrance:

One last note about the downtown area: every year I see a small table altar set up on Elgin Bridge. It seems to be there every year. If anyone knows who puts it out every year, let me know. I finally got home way after midnight but still had the energy to check out the low-rise condo nearby - I couldn't tell how many people had usedd the big oil drum burner but it was definitely used. There was also a second small red burner which means at least two homes were doing burning. I counted 5 piles of ash along my row of houses (42 units) - which is about 10% of the homes.

The area around Poh Chiak Keng is full of clubs. The numbers didn't seem affected by the start of the Seventh Month although there were scattered offerings of tea, biscuits and joss sticks everywhere (photo on left).