Special stage performances

Sunday was supposed to be a peaceful, restful day for me here in the little tropical island. At least I thought so.

Last Sunday did not really work out that way though. After spending a full hour of queueing in front of a noodles stall in a hawker's center, I came home from lunch with my uncle and aunt thinking that it was going to be the highlight of the day. We were greeted though with some heavy-duty karaoke singing. We were busy commenting on the vocal quality at first: This lady sucks... now this guy is not bad. Stuff like that. We then completely ignored these idol wannabes. An hour passed. Two. Three. Wait a minute. It was getting ridiculous. I can understand some weekend stress-reliefing hobbies. But 4 hours of karaoke singing? Even Celine Dion won't be able to make it, I think.

The answer then came after my curious aunt took a quick peek out her kitchen windows. It turned out there was a stage performance set up in the parking lot across the street from our block.

I then learned yet another interesting thing about my people. Apparently, some of us believe in offering more than just food and other necessities to the hungry ghosts during this time of the year: Entertainment. What thoughtful people we are.
So apparently, this type of performance has always been held around this time of the year to entertain these spirits. What makes it even more interesting is what I learned later on. Little things like they used to have peking-opera like performances back in the days. But they are more modernized now, hence the karaoke and mando or hokkien pop songs. More interestingly, the first row of the audience seating will always be left empty for these spirits. And..... the performers have to continue performing whether or not they have any audience within sight. For obvious reason, of course.

Well, I like the culture of my people. We are such respectful and thoughtful people.

So, I didn't feel the need to complain when the singing didn't stop after 5 hours. By the sixth hours, I was beginning to hum along with the singers. By the end of the seventh hour, when they stopped, I found myself wishing they had kept the show going on longer. It was getting too quiet for a night in the month of the hungry ghosts.