ACCORDING to Chinese folk tales, the gates of hell open annually during the Hungry Ghost month, which causes more deaths in this period, but Singapore statistics show a different story, China Press reported.

The daily reported that the seventh month of the lunar calendar, which usually falls in July and August, did not show a rise in the death toll.

Some funeral parlour operators said their business even declined compared with other months.

An undertaker said his business dropped 10% to 20% on the seventh month, so he would usually travel overseas on this particular period.

However, there were a number of undertakers who said their business increased as old people easily fell sick due to the weather change in the seventh month.

A feng shui master jokingly said it was baseless to claim that more people died during the Hungry Ghost month.

“The ‘officers’ from hell are too busy monitoring the ghosts, which can roam freely during the month, so they may not have time to take in new ones,” he said.

Another feng shui master said some older people believed that their spirit might be forced to wander around if they died during the month.

The daily also reported that a temple caretaker did not cut her hair for nine years to show her faith in God.

The 65-year-old Indian from Teluk Intan, known only as Soma, also did not wash her hair during the period, causing her hair to tangle and become hard like tree bark.

“This is the second time I have kept my hair for so long.

“The first time I kept it for 10 years before it dropped off,” she said.

Soma said she was used to people staring at her hair and that her mane did not affect her daily life.