Hungry Ghost <\/a>Month again.<\/p>\nAlso commonly known as the Seventh Month, the annual Chinese festival is when many families make offerings to honour their departed loved ones and, according to traditional beliefs, wandering spirits.<\/p>\n
Depending on the family, those offerings can range from fruits and snacks to cooked meals, tea, coffee, soft drinks and even items that the deceased enjoyed while they were alive.<\/p>\n
Which brings us to one particularly modern offering that recently caught a TikToker’s eye.<\/p>\n
Instead of the usual canned drinks, she spotted two bottles of Oatside oat milk sitting neatly beside a plate of oranges and a packet of oat biscuits.<\/p>\n
“Dear diary, does my grandpa want oat milk?” she wrote in her post.<\/p>\n
She later clarified in the comments that he had simply come across the offering by the roadside.<\/p>\n
We are guessing the offering was for someone who was lactose intolerant previously?<\/p>\n
The unusual offering even prompted the TikToker to wonder if it was an example of “cultural syncretism\u201d, the blending of different cultures or traditions into something new.<\/p>\n
Netizens had plenty to say.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy ah gong<\/em> lactose intolerant lah,” one commenter joked.<\/p>\nAnother agreed: “Your grandpa might have lactose intolerance… or just good taste in non-dairy milk.”<\/p>\n
Someone else shared that offerings in their neighbourhood are equally contemporary.<\/p>\n
“Someone put five different flavours of Fanta drinks,” they wrote.<\/p>\n
The light-hearted discussion also raised an unexpectedly interesting question.<\/p>\n
If our grandparents were alive today, surrounded by all the food and drink choices we have now, what would they actually want?<\/p>\n
Other than oat milk, maybe matcha? Or a protein shake?<\/p>\n
We are guessing the conversation was a gentle reminder that while traditions remain the same, the little details often change as time goes by.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n