MELAKA: Wandering souls this Hungry Ghost Festival will have to roam the streets elsewhere this year as committee members of the Wee Hian Temple in Taman Merdeka here have turned their sights on feeding the hungry living instead.

       Committee secretary Goh Hock Gin said the temple distributed 300 boxes of dry food supplies and 520 lunch boxes to families facing financial difficulties last Saturday.

       “We decided to focus on the community impacted by the pandemic on the seventh lunar month known as the Ghost Month or ‘qi yue’ in Chinese tradition,” he said on Tuesday.

       Goh said the festival, which is celebrated on the seventh month of the year according to the Chinese lunar calendar, ends on Sept 6.

       He said the temple also recently celebrated the birthday of Ong Yah, its resident deity.

       “We collected RM20,000 from devotees in just a week and decided to use the funds to help the needy,” he said.

       Goh said the temple had decided to continue the distribution of the items in conjunction with National Day to help the people.

       “Each package contained 10 kinds of items, among others, cooking oil, flour, rice noodles, sugar, biscuits and canned food.

       “We also helped to provide 50 packages to the parents and teachers association of a nearby vernacular school on that day,” he said.

       Goh added that free lunch boxes would be distributed on Sept 1, Sept 4 and Sept 5 at the Bachang Charity hall, here.