The yearly Hungry Ghost Festival event taking place at the Wah Fu Estate in the Pok Fu Lam area of Hong Kong faces the possibility of vanishing.
The festival, which was suspended since 2020 because of the pandemic, made a comeback at the end of August. However, there is a possibility that the traditional rituals and customs, which take place in the higher buildings of Wah Fu (II) Estate, may vanish during the estate's overall redevelopment.
Unveiled in March 2024, the multi-stage initiative involves moving residents from the low-income housing area to new residences in batches as fresh residential buildings are constructed. The procedure of rehousing occupants into the updated estate is anticipated to continue until 2040-41.
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Also known as the YulanThe Hungry Ghost Festival has been included in the Representative List of Hong Kong's Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2017.
Every year, the community-driven festival at Wah Fu Estate holds significant importance in the estate's history, bringing people together, according to Gary Wong Pui-fung, the scholar leading a project titled "Preserving the Ghost Festival at Wah Fu Estate and Collaboratively Envisioning Its Future."
"Wah Fu was constructed on a site that was previously a cemetery, which meant the Wah Fu community had to be carefully planned, including the development of shopping centers, schools, and retail outlets," Wong explains, noting that this was different from other government housing estates at that time, like Choi Hung Estate, which were built in areas that already had existing community facilities such as schools and eateries. This resulted in a more varied population in Wah Fu.
Although many communities in Hong Kong hold Hungry Ghost Festivals, the one in Wah Fu was the pioneering event that united residents of a housing estate with diverse backgrounds and faiths.
The individuals present did not have a shared last name or familial background. These types of meetings were exceptionally uncommon during that period.
The Ghost Festival is a custom rooted in Daoist and Buddhist beliefs, where the living pay respect to the deceased. In the seventh lunar month, it is thought that the realm of spirits becomes accessible, allowing wandering ancestors to walk among the living. People present paper representations of expensive items, burn incense papers, and set up banquets to calm these temporary spirits, while engaging Daoist monks to conduct ceremonies to bring them comfort and maintain harmony within the family.
As the Wah Fu Hungry Ghost Festival event is organized by the local community, the financial resources are typically scarce, and numerous decorations are crafted manually by the residents.
"These require time to organize and provide the residents with a purpose to come together and collaborate," says Wong, who is also a lecturer in the sociology department at the University of Leeds in England.
One aspect that sets apart the Wah Fu Estate's festivities is that conventional ceremonies take place in the center of the phase-two courtyard, allowing residents to observe from their convenience.
The renovated estate, nevertheless, will not include a courtyard.
"The courtyard of [the estate's phase two] offers protection from the weather using a low-cost tarp, while other Yulan Festival sites construct a platform or an altar, both of which require expenditure. If the expense of hosting the festival increases, will the community still maintain this custom?" Wong questions.
During his study of this festival, Wong discovered a report that highlighted the vulnerability of these customs.
There are six houses or towers in the second phase of the housing estate, although the festival [only extends into] five of them. According to Wong, we came across a report from the 1970s that mentioned another scholar who was researching the Hungry Ghost Festival in Wah Fu. He discovered that the reason the ceremony ceased in one of the buildings was because the committee member responsible passed away unexpectedly and no one took over that position.
In 1968, upon the arrival of the first residents, Wah Fu Estate was regarded as contemporary for its era. This remained true during the construction of the second phase, where each building was designed around a central courtyard, likely to enhance ventilation and natural lighting, as air conditioning was still a rare commodity then. The courtyard also fostered a feeling of community among the residents, offering them a place to congregate and organize activities.
Between the late 1960s and the 1970s, Wah Fu Estate experienced the growth of Hong Kong," mentions Wong. "What's intriguing is that Wah Fu was the initial public housing area constructed outside of an existing neighborhood.
In addition to the redevelopment plan, another challenge facing the festival's future is the aging demographic of the estate.
Low-income housing units in Hong Kong can be passed on to qualified family members. As per the 2021 census, the average age of inhabitants in Wah Fu Estate was 47.7 years. Given a redevelopment project that will continue until 2041, many of the present residents who have arranged the community event may be too elderly by the time they come back.
Due to increased expenses and a younger generation that might not continue the community's customs, the current celebration of the Hungry Ghost Festival at Wah Fu Estate is facing a significant risk of vanishing.
We can only document the rituals and procedures of the ceremony," Wong states. "If the residents no longer find any value in continuing, then it's over.
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