My True Ghost Story – Ang Mo Kio Flat

To coincide with this year’s Hungry Ghost Festival, which runs from 29 July to 26 August 2022, I decided to share some of my own true ghost stories on this blog. Don’t worry — I only have about eight stories so far, so definitely not enough to fill all 29 days of the festival! I’ll share more when I feel comfortable enough to talk about them.

I’m also a big fan of the Singapore radio station Love 97.2FM, which airs Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories every Friday at 11pm SGT. A few of my voice recordings have even been featured on the programme. I’ll attach the podcast links in this post, although they are in Mandarin.

Just to recap, the Hungry Ghost Festival this year begins on 29 July, the first day of the seventh lunar month, and ends on 26 August, the final day of the month. Earlier this year, I also published a list of things you should avoid doing during the festival, and a few years ago I wrote an article explaining the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival. Do check out those posts if you’re interested in Chinese culture and superstitions.

My first story took place more than 40 years ago and was told to me by my mother and sisters. Back then, my parents bought a brand-new three-room HDB flat in Ang Mo Kio — two bedrooms and a kitchen.

My mother is a devoted Buddhist and keeps several statues at home for prayers and offerings: Guan Yin 观音, Guan Gong 关公, Tua Pek Kong 大伯公, and Tudigong 土地公. Every morning, she would light joss sticks and pray for blessings. The joss sticks were usually placed in an incense pot.

On the very first day we moved in, something strange happened.

The moment my mother carried the incense pot through the front door, she heard loud quarrelling sounds coming from inside it. She said it sounded like several men arguing angrily with one another. The strange thing was that the pot contained nothing except old joss stick ash and residue. As if that wasn’t unsettling enough, there was also a dead rat lying in the middle of the living room.

It definitely did not feel like an auspicious moving day.

During the years we lived there, my mother and sister would often see dark shadows moving in and out of the storeroom. I personally never saw any figures, but I always felt uneasy near that area of the house. The storeroom had no windows, making it dark even during the daytime.

According to Feng Shui beliefs, the toilet is considered the most “yin” area of the house. Some people believe it acts as an entrance, exit, or hiding place for spirits. Don’t ask me why — it’s simply what I grew up hearing from older family members.

Over the years, my parents often talked about moving away, but finding another flat was not easy at the time. Thankfully, we finally managed to move out in June 1991, which meant I no longer had to sleep in the living room with our small dog, Roy.

My parents later sold the flat to a young Muslim couple. According to our former next-door neighbour, they did not stay there for very long either. Luckily for them, there were no minimum occupancy restrictions back then. Nowadays, flat owners in Singapore usually need to stay at least five years before selling their property.

If you are moving into a new home, some Chinese families believe you should roll a fresh pineapple into the house before stepping inside. This tradition symbolises wealth and prosperity entering the home. (You can also check out my pineapple craft post!) But according to superstition, if the pineapple rolls back out of the house… perhaps it’s a sign you should think twice about staying there!