The Chinese population in Singapore is the largest.  Their spirituality tends to center on reverence for their family and their ancestry.   During the month of the “hungry ghost,” Chinese burned fake money (or as they would say hell note)s and other things to honor their family or all who have gone before.  You would see barrels for burning and altars with food and incense all along the streets.   During Chinese New Year, most Chinese return to their families, and the streets of Singapore are deserted.  Many shops and restaurants are closed for one to three days.  On that holiday the older members of the family give gifts of money to all the younger generations.   It is important to give big bucks to save face and bring good luck.

The importance of ancestry came home to me in a conversation with a Singaporean female friend.  Her family left southern China during the diaspora when many fled to escape food and work shortages.   Many followed the trade winds and settled in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.  My friend, Chialee, with a number of her cousins returned to the village of her mother’s family.  They found an ancestral hall belonging to her family.  She learned that her mother’s older brother, a very successful businessman pressed all the related rich family especially in Indonesia to send money back to the village to support the ancestral hall.  They met a distant cousin who cared for the hall.  He took them on a tour of the building. 

 My friend offered the following notes to make sure that my description is more accurate.:

In the hall, there was an altar with two tablets, with the names on the altar.  On one side were the names of the living members of the family; on the other side were the names of the one who had died.  The two tablets (more like columns) state the family values. The one on the right speaks about the importance of education, the one on the left speaks of the importance of filial piety.

But they also double up to determine generational names for the family. The paired words (one from each tablet) are adopted by each generation in naming of children. So the first generation would use the first word on either side in their names. The word on the left side – for the name in life, and the word on the right for the name in death ( on the altar name plate and the grave marker). The word in life would be used in the first part of a usually two word name; for example, my name is Chia Lee. Chia is the generational name in life and Lee a name given to me. All my siblings and cousins on my father’s side of the family would be named Chia something. So if there is a family gathering, anyone with a Chia in their name, I would know is from my generation. Similarly any one with the generational name above Chia would likely be an aunt or uncle. Although in more traditional families, this practice is only applied to males because the females all marry (out) to other families and are considered lost.

It used to be that each child born and named would have its name written in a book kept in the ancestral hall. Both books in my family have sadly disappeared.

Even more tragic is that this is now not practiced much. I believe this was one the practices the Cultural Revolution destroyed. Many Chinese born in the sixties in China have only one-word names.

To Moslems, Christians, and Jews who focus their reverence on a god who created and oversees all, this kind of spirituality is hard to understand because it does not fit their worldview.