Recycling bin melts after burning of offerings, town council says residents should 'follow guidelines'
Alicia Chua
TNP
Oct 1, 2025
On the last week of the Hungry Ghost Festival in late September, Sembawang Town Council cleaner supervisor Mahmud arrived at a housing estate under his purview, only to find that a recycling bin had completely melted after catching fire.
The charred patches of grass around a nearby burner meant for offerings gave a clue as to the cause: residents burning offerings outside the designated areas.
Taking place during the seventh lunar month, the Hungry Ghost Festival sees many Taoist and Buddhist devotees making offerings of joss paper, food and drinks to ancestors and wandering spirits.
The start, middle, and final days of the festival typically see the most number of devotees making offerings. Mahmud is just one of the many cleaners who clean up after them.
The 26-year-old Bangladeshi told The New Paper: "On the last day of the Seventh Month, Sept 21, many residents were making their final offerings, which we cleared day and night."
"We still have to clean up the leftovers the following day," he added, noting that residents have often expressed their concerns that melted candles and incense sticks left on the ground by devotees may pose sharp hazards.
'If everyone do it, cannot be fine the whole of SG': Netizen
As the Seventh Month concluded, a Reddit post has sparked discussions about the civic responsibility of devotees performing traditional Hungry Ghost Festival rituals.
Food and drink offerings, burning incense, candles and scattered joss paper are a familiar sight in the heartlands during this period, raising concerns over littering, rodent infestation, and air pollution.
With offerings and joss paper often left uncleared long after the rituals, netizens asked the perennial question: who is responsible for the leftover offerings?
While some argued that "people pantang (Malay for superstitious), that's why it's not regulated," a netizen responded: "If clearing the offerings and ash is taboo, are the cleaners committing a sin?"
In a TikTok video, Taoist TikToker quanzhentaoist criticised the improper burning of joss paper on open grass patches beside designated burners, questioning: "What can be done to make ppl be responsible in their prayers?"
Captioned "I really dun understand… like its not laziness at this point… it's like ppl dun even care", the clip, which was posted on Sept 23, had 153,300 views, 13,300 reactions and 932 comments at press time.
"Some religious superstitions are tolerated even at the expense of littering law," one netizen claimed.
Taboo or misconception?
Some devotees among the netizens pointed out that the clearing of offerings is often deemed to be inauspicious.
"Since young, I've been told cannot touch or ghost will haunt you," one said, adding that it eventually became a belief that "I cannot touch, but someone who does not believe can."
However, an e-advisory jointly issued by the Religious Federation and Alliance for Action (AfA) on Norms for Joss Burning urges that food offerings be cleared by devotees after the rituals.
According to religious authorities, food offerings can be removed once an incense stick has burned out, typically within 15 to 20 minutes.
TNP has reached out to the Singapore Taoist Federation and Singapore Buddhist Federation for comment on Seventh Month festival practices and related public safety concerns.
'How much is considered overboard?'
"We keep it small, buying only the most basic offerings, even though some neighbors spend hundreds believing that the more they offer, the luckier they will be for the year," said Ms Tee, a Buddhist in her mid-40s, adding that she does so to continue the practices of her ancestors and to pray for her family's safety.
This reflects the guidance from the National Environment Agency (NEA), which advises the public to burn offerings based on sincerity, and to burn smaller amounts of joss paper to reduce smoke and ashes.
Decline in complaints over joss paper burning
According to official data, complaints about indiscriminate joss paper burning dropped 31 per cent in 2024 compared with 2021, before the public education campaign by the AfA was launched.
Figures for 2025 have not been released, but the work of the AfA continues.
The AfA campaign this year, which ended on March 14, targeted the two major periods of joss paper burning: the Lunar New Year and the Hungry Ghost Festival.
Launched in July 2022, the AfA has worked to raise awareness of responsible joss paper burning through public dialogue sessions, posters, digital panels, shop displays, and media campaigns.
For now, the cleanup of leftover offerings remains an annual affair.
While cleaner supervisor Mahmud accepts that it is part of his duties, he told TNP that he wishes residents would "follow the guidelines in the government posters to keep the shared spaces safe."
