MELAKA: The Taman Merdeka Wee Hian Temple committee will be feeding families struggling to put food on the table during the Covid-19 pandemic, instead of hungry ghosts.

       Committee secretary Goh Hock Gin said they distributed 300 boxes of dry food and 520 lunch boxes to families in need on Saturday (Aug 21).

       “We decided to focus on helping the society impacted by the pandemic on the seventh lunar month known as the ghost month or 'qi yue' in Chinese tradition,” he said on Tuesday (Aug 24).

       Goh said the Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated on the seventh month of the year according to the Chinese lunar calendar.

       He said the temple here also celebrated the birthday of Ong Yah, the resident deity of the temple on the same day.

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

       “I am sure the wandering souls would be happy that we are helping those who had lost their source of income due to Covid-19,” he said.

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

       “Each of the packages contains 10 types of items, among others, cooking oil, flour, noodles, sugar, biscuits and canned food.

       “We also helped to provide 50 packages to the Parent-Teacher Association of a nearby vernacular school,” he said.

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