August 04, 2016, 02:14 PM 
Paper offerings have become increasingly elaborate with enterprising business people cashing in on our increasing affluence.
Hop over to Taobao and choices for offerings are endless.
Massage chairs, rice cookers and even hot water packs are just the tip of the iceberg.
These paper offerings are burnt as part of funeral rites and some Singaporeans continue making these offerings during special occasions like Qing Ming or the seventh lunar month.
"Completely misunderstood by the majority of Chinese"
A 2014 article by the Nalanda Buddhist society in Malaysia has been making its round on the Internet especially now that the seventh lunar month is upon us.
The article sought to explain the original intention for burning paper money and offerings:
During a funeral ceremony in ancient China, paper-made models of houses, sedan chairs, treasure chests, clothes, daily utensils, and even effigies of servants, were burnt as the cortege was leaving home for burial in the cemetery.
The ORIGINAL meaning of such an act is to show everyone present that all former possessions of the deceased cannot be brought along to the next life. At one’s death, everything one had ever owned has to be left behind. The burning only emphasizes this message, as it is the most graphical, symbolic, and dramatic way of showing total loss!
There is a Chinese saying that ‘no possessions can be brought along to the next existence; the only thing that follows one is his deeds, or ‘karma’ ‘ ( 万般带不去，唯有业随身 ). Furthermore, his relatives and friends only follow the deceased up to the grave, but soon turn to go home, leaving the dead alone in his tomb!
Thus, the burning of cheaply-produced paper models and effigies served as an effective educational tool. Witnessing how fire consumes every ‘former possession’ of the deceased, even an illiterate peasant or young child was able to understand this sense of total relinquishment at death.
Anyway, that is one explanation why Chinese people burn paper offerings during funerals and special occasions.
Singapore Civil Defence Force's fire safety tips for lunar seventh month
On the topic of burning offerings, here are some fire safety tips from SCDF to follows:
Whether you burn paper offerings out of respect, duty, or tradition, remember safety first!
Top image from benoxi
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