Video Shows Public Mess Left By Malaysians Who Celebrated Hungry Ghost Festival
"You can pray on the streets, but please clean up when you're done."
By May Vin Ang — 04 Sep 2020, 06:19 PM
Netizens are expressing frustration over a video showing a mess in public left by people who celebrated the Hungry Ghost Festival this year
Observed on the 15th day of the seventh Lunar month, Taoists and Buddhists believe that the gates of hell open for spirits to roam the earth and make sacrifices to appease them.
Devotees in Malaysia, especially those living in residential areas, make makeshift altars and burn offerings on the roadside as part of the custom.
Falling on Wednesday, 2 September, this year, family members continued to burn joss sticks and hell money (joss paper) on the roadside for the deceased.
The video was shared by local actor Steven Yap, who raised an issue with the festival practice on Thursday morning, 3 September, after he found a burned altar left uncleaned by the roadside
Yap posted the video on his Facebook page to show his disappointment with the Malaysian Chinese who failed to clean up their rubbish after their prayers.
"Attention Malaysian Chinese, we have been in this country for hundreds of years. How do you expect others to ever respect us when we leave our trash out like this?" he ranted in Cantonese.
According to Yap, no other country, including China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, allows its citizens to pray on the streets.
"You can pray on the streets here, but please clean up when you're done," he advised, while helping a city council cleaner clean up the mess on the side of the road.
As of this writing, Yap's video has been shared over 12,000 times, with netizens pouring in to agree and condemn those who leave their litter for others to clean up
"You made a good point. These kind of people don't have common decency," said a Facebook user.
While another shared, "While on the way to work this morning, I also saw prayer leftovers on the side of the road like plastic bags, boxes, and trash. Seeing this made me angry."
"Why can't the people who pray bring their rubbish home with them?" they asked.
Meanwhile, this netizen said, "You did a good job. This reminds me about camping because you should also teach your kids to leave a campsite clean before you leave. It's good to train them from young. Thanks, brother."
