Burning offerings on Bukit Merah walkway 'ridiculous and selfish', SCDF and police show up
A Bukit Merah resident found it "selfish" of people to be burning offerings on a walkway on the evening of Aug 29.
Stomper A shared a video of the incident, which took place next to Block 11 Jalan Bukit Merah at around 8pm.
"I would like to spread awareness regarding a fire incident," said the resident.
"This is due to the burning of hell notes."
The Stomper recounted: "I came out of my house for some fresh air and got hit with ashes and smoke.
"I looked down and saw a huge flame with papers all around the road. Pedestrians were taking one big round just to walk back to their residence."
The resident called the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).
"I felt extremely disappointed in people, knowing that it is Hungry Ghost. They should have awareness of where to burn such papers as there are allocated places for this. Doing it on the pavement where old people and children walk by is just ridiculous and selfish," said the Stomper.
"The ashes were flying up to my level, and mind you, I live on the ninth storey. This is just unacceptable."
The video shows a ring of fire on the walkway with paper scattered around the area, including the road.
After the fire had burned itself out, an SCDF vehicle and firefighters as well as the police can be seen under the block.
A bin for burning was nearby, but it did not appear to have been used.
Stomp understands that although SCDF was called, its assistance was not needed when it arrived.
On Aug 23, SCDF posted on social media a fire safety advisory for the burning of joss sticks and offerings during the Seventh Month or Hungry Ghost Festival.
This year's Hungry Ghost Month runs from Aug 23 to Sept 21 with the actual festival day falling on Sept 6.
