Came back home on Thursday to find on the table, an assortment of traditional cakes, fried noodles, fried rice, curry chicken and other meat-based and non-meat based dishes, even moon cakes. Why, it was por tor. Suppose I 've heard of the word, por tor since a child but never come to really understanding it. Googled the words and was surprised to find that it is celebrated in Phuket, Thailand on a grand scale and is just the merit-making Chinese Hungry Ghost festival when offerings are made not just for one's ancestors but also for stray ghosts who have no relatives. This year, the festival fell on 25 August 2018, the 15th day of the 7th lunar month but it has seemed to me for as long as I remember, that the festival is a month long affair filled not just with prayers but also entertainment. In some places with large Chinese population like Penang and where the local authorities allow, Chinese opera and puppet show may be staged to entertain the departed but for a long time now, they have been taken over by Koh Tai, stage shows featuring modern Chinese pop music, leading one to suspect that the shows are also for the living. Suppose then, it is a win-win situation.
Now, going to have a little bit of this and that...
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