Chinese Opera

Recently the Taoist celebrated the Hungry Ghost month which falls on 7th Chinese moon every year. During this month the Taoist would pray to the dead. It was believed that during such month King of Hades would open the doors of Hell to let out all the ghosts. Some superstitious people will not go out during the night. Parents would disallow their children to go to the sea fearing that they may be captured by these so called hungry ghosts.

It is considered an inauspicious month and weddings are not encouraged. Fears were instilled into the minds of the Taoist.

But according to Theravada Buddhism, the explaination is about filial piety. The story started from a disciple of Guatama Buddha named Mongalana. He had dreamt that his mother was suffering in hell. And he went into hell to help his mother get out of the misery.

During this month the Buddhist would do dana (charity) in memory for the wondering souls. Prayers are offered and some will offer monks' requisites. The Mahayanas will be chanting for the lost souls for a number of days as stipulated by the different temples.

The Chinese operas will be employed by committees managing this celebration. This is a dying trade. But recently they are making a come back. They were replaced by singing. The irony is that the singers of such entertainment were dress scantily to attract more audience.

In my opinion, the Chinese opera is more suited. When I was a small girl, together my cousins and I would carry benches and we would place them at the best spot whereby we could get a good view. There were times we would cheekily sneaked back staged to have a peek at how the performers did their make-ups.

These operas if one can understand the story is very interesting. The story are based on ancient history.

Most of these performers come from Thailand. The costs of these are on daily basis. If not mistaken it is like MYR2000 per night.

The costumes are the main attraction. They are made of sequins and having seen them before, I can tell you that it is an easy task to tailor them.

Nowadays, the young do not appreciate such operas. When I went to take shots, I noticed that the crowd was not like those good old days.