Dinner, auctions, rituals: The ones who keep the incense burning

Residents of housing estates, factories, and businesses organize the Hungry Ghost Festival celebrations, with a multi-purpose hall in Toa Payoh hosting a dinner auction. Richard Teo, who has managed these festivities for nearly two decades, started the Hup Zhong Zhong Yuan Jie committee in Toa Payoh. The committee collects contributions from residents, shopkeepers, stallholders, and members, organizes mass offerings, prayers, a dinner, and an auction, and sometimes engages a getai organiser for a show.

Membership fees have increased from $50 to $100, and the committee's membership has dwindled from over 40 to around 30, mostly in their 60s and 70s. Auction items range from $100 to $300, with some going for thousands of dollars. Costs for dinner, blessing packs, and prayer items have risen 20 to 30 percent. Despite rising expenses, Teo aims to continue the tradition, either by recruiting more members or scaling down the event.

The committee's treasurer, Angela, emphasizes that the tradition will continue regardless of the committee's financial state. Other organizers, like Rose Lim and Chhua Bak Siang, also speak about the challenges of rising costs and the need to find younger volunteers to replace aging members.