Hungry ghost festival

Now (7th month of the lunar calendar) is hungry ghost festival, at least in Singapore. I had never heard of this festival in Aust. It's believed tat the gates of hell are opened n the dead walk among the livin'. Mum was askin' me if i'd wanna join our relatives (e.g. old aunt, younger aunt, Xian, etc.) to pay respect to our deceased relatives by visitin' their graves with feastin'.

On the streets, i cld see people burnin' hell money, paper offerings n joss sticks to their (the spirits) material needs. Food was offered too so they (yes the spirits) won't go hungry n thus less likely to wreck havoc. :) I'm a typical scientific person but i opted to remain silent for this. I do respect all religions n festivals.