On paper, Singapore is an economic powerhouse. People love expounding on how a poor fishing village (this was proven untrue) became a prosperous city, and how we have built our nation on pragmatism. It shows in our education system; our students pick the courses with the most prestige and earning power, and make financial moves like buying a condo, only to flip it for double the price (here’s looking at you, Tampines).
Everything is regulated. Smoke within the yellow box. Adhere to guidelines when you burn offerings.
And yet, as a people, we are haunted.
In the early days, most of Singapore’s citizens were migrants fleeing from the turmoil of the countries of their origin. Our ancestors carried with them severe losses and emotional pain that was not processed. The trauma in so many families lingers as ghosts, and it is passed down from generation to generation. We didn’t have the vocabulary for this until recently, when many people and therapists used social media to start all of these conversations about mental health. There is some progress, but there is much to be done.
Our ghosts aren’t just the pontianaks, makcik keropok, orang bunians and what have you — they are our own fears, grief, and shame, haunting our pristine BTOs and even more atas condominiums. They are our trauma inherited from our ancestors, and the darkness that we carry within ourselves.
And hey — it’s easy to tell a story about a ghost to process your own trauma.
Ghost stories have existed time immemorial — ever since we sat around the fire to tell them as early humans, but I guess now it’s a campfire in a forest. (or Bukit Brown. If you dare.) But what we take away from these ghost stories is not to whistle at night, but rather, an even better reason to be quiet.
We have to think — what is haunting us on the inside that is manifesting in our environment? It is only when we are aware of what is lurking in our subconscious that we can learn how to deal with it in a healthy way—by turning on the light and looking at the parts we don’t acknowledge.
So here’s to looking inward — at our trauma, our ghosts, and facing them to find the light within us.