Burning Incense
Burning of Joss and Incence paper cause Serious Air Pollution
It was 1am on the 7th of February 2008. I was feeding my 9-month-old baby in the kitchen.
Suddenly there was a huge gust of wind. I saw smoke coming in through the kitchen windows! The air in the kitchen turned smoky and sour. I could not bear the thick smoke. Neither could my baby bear the bellowing smoke and started crying.
I tried to close the windows quickly. But it was too late! Layers of thick black smoke and ashes were already trapped in the house!
I realized the smoke and ashes were caused by burning of incense papers. Many of my neighbours have gathered around the common walkway along the blocks of flats and started to burn incense paper. It dawned upon me that it was already the first day of Chinese Lunar New Year! People are praying to ancestors and to the deities for good luck!
I tell myself that on 14th February 2008 before midnight, I will close all my windows before I go to bed. This is because on that particular night more praying and burning rituals would commence.
True enough, on that very night, the Hokkiens started to pray to the ‘deities and ancestors’ on the ninth day of the Lunar New Year. They started to have mass praying sessions. They began to burn incense papers vigorously.
Though I closed all the windows in my house, somehow the smoke still gets in. We have to breath in that dirty smoke and soot in our sleep. My poor baby! No choice but to turn the electric fan to maximum speed and hope that things will get better. Around 3am, the burning subsided. Only when we ‘feel’ that the air quality has ‘improved’, did we open the windows. We tossed and turn in bed and had lost couple of hours of precious sleep.
There are a few other occasions, especially every 1st and 15th of the Chinese lunar month, the same problem arises. When my neighbours did the usual ‘praying rituals and burning of incense paper’ on these days, I have to scamble in order to move all my laundry which is being ‘aired’ outside the house.
I have written to NEA and other authorities several times, but so far nothing effective has been done. The usual reply is 'we will step up on public education'.
Overall I find that this is not only an air-quality or air pollution issue, but also a ‘littering’ problem. With strong winds, the ashes and soot from the incense papers flew around the neighbourhoods, dirtying the walkways and common corridors. To make matters worse, the ashes and debris made their way into the eating places, kitchens and bedrooms.
As a multi-cultural and multi-racial society, I understand we need to be very sensitive and mindful of such issues. However I am at wit's end with all these burning. I could no longer put up with such inconsiderate acts and urged the relevant authorities in charge to take sterner action.
It was 1am on the 7th of February 2008. I was feeding my 9-month-old baby in the kitchen.
Suddenly there was a huge gust of wind. I saw smoke coming in through the kitchen windows! The air in the kitchen turned smoky and sour. I could not bear the thick smoke. Neither could my baby bear the bellowing smoke and started crying.
I tried to close the windows quickly. But it was too late! Layers of thick black smoke and ashes were already trapped in the house!
I realized the smoke and ashes were caused by burning of incense papers. Many of my neighbours have gathered around the common walkway along the blocks of flats and started to burn incense paper. It dawned upon me that it was already the first day of Chinese Lunar New Year! People are praying to ancestors and to the deities for good luck!
I tell myself that on 14th February 2008 before midnight, I will close all my windows before I go to bed. This is because on that particular night more praying and burning rituals would commence.
True enough, on that very night, the Hokkiens started to pray to the ‘deities and ancestors’ on the ninth day of the Lunar New Year. They started to have mass praying sessions. They began to burn incense papers vigorously.
Though I closed all the windows in my house, somehow the smoke still gets in. We have to breath in that dirty smoke and soot in our sleep. My poor baby! No choice but to turn the electric fan to maximum speed and hope that things will get better. Around 3am, the burning subsided. Only when we ‘feel’ that the air quality has ‘improved’, did we open the windows. We tossed and turn in bed and had lost couple of hours of precious sleep.
There are a few other occasions, especially every 1st and 15th of the Chinese lunar month, the same problem arises. When my neighbours did the usual ‘praying rituals and burning of incense paper’ on these days, I have to scamble in order to move all my laundry which is being ‘aired’ outside the house.
I have written to NEA and other authorities several times, but so far nothing effective has been done. The usual reply is 'we will step up on public education'.
Overall I find that this is not only an air-quality or air pollution issue, but also a ‘littering’ problem. With strong winds, the ashes and soot from the incense papers flew around the neighbourhoods, dirtying the walkways and common corridors. To make matters worse, the ashes and debris made their way into the eating places, kitchens and bedrooms.
As a multi-cultural and multi-racial society, I understand we need to be very sensitive and mindful of such issues. However I am at wit's end with all these burning. I could no longer put up with such inconsiderate acts and urged the relevant authorities in charge to take sterner action.
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