我带着儿子去新加坡探亲,恰逢最热闹的中元节。与国内不同的是,新加坡的中元节并不仅仅指七月十五这一天,而是从七月第一天开始,直到最后一天结束,整整一个月的时间。中元节期间,新加坡大街小巷到处弥漫着烧纸的味道,让人感受到节日的气氛。听居住在新加坡的表哥说,人们相信阴历七月初一是鬼门大开的日子,其后一个月里鬼魂可以自由出入阴阳两界,因而很多人家会在自家门前插上蜡烛和香,点烛焚香祭拜,完毕后把纸钱放到焚烧桶去烧。为了不影响卫生又便于清理,新加坡的焚烧桶由政府定制,每年七月摆放在组屋前供人们烧纸用。我们的到来,表哥一家很欢迎,但他的一个朋友却 I took my son to Singapore to visit relatives, coinciding with the busiest Chinese New Year. Differentiating from the rest of the world, Singapore’s Mid-Autumn Festival does not mean just July 15, but from the very first day of July till the end of the last day, a full month. During the festival, Singapore streets filled with the smell of burning paper, people feel the atmosphere of the festival. Listening to cousin living in Singapore said that people believe that lunar lunar January first day is the day of the hell, in the following month ghosts are free to enter the yin and yang circles, so many people will put candle and incense in front of their own house. Candle incense and worship, after the paper money into the burning barrel to burn. In order not to affect health and facilitate clean-up, Singapore’s burning barrels are custom-made by the government and placed in front of HDB flats for use in burning paper in July each year. Our arrival, cousin family very welcome, but one of his friends