Singapore’s National Library preserves local material devoted specifically to Chinese traditions, superstitions, myths and taboos, while National Heritage Board records document place-bound beliefs around Kusu Island, keramat shrines and neighbourhood guardian spirits. Singaporean superstition is therefore not one national creed: Chinese dialect traditions, Malay-derived spirit lore, Indian protective customs and newer urban rituals can exist side by side. The collection here documents 62 distinct beliefs, omens, taboos and luck practices recorded in Singapore sources; it is not a claim that Singapore has exactly 62 superstitions or that every Singaporean follows them.
Some practices have religious or ancestral meanings for the people who observe them and should not automatically be reduced to superstition. They are included where Singapore sources record a specific belief about luck, protection, spirits, omens, auspicious timing or an expected supernatural result. Meanings can differ between families, dialect groups and communities.
Lunar New Year: Words, Objects, and Auspicious Timing
Sweetening the Kitchen God’s Report
Before the Lunar New Year, some Chinese Singaporean households traditionally offer sweet cakes, candied foods or other treats to the Kitchen God. One folk explanation says the sweetness encourages him to give the Jade Emperor a favourable report about the family.
Sweeping Away Old Spirits Before New Year
Traditional pre-New-Year cleaning may include sweeping with bamboo leaves. Singapore records connect the practice with clearing away unwanted spiritual influences and preparing the household for a fresh and fortunate beginning.
No Sweeping on New Year’s Day
Once the new year has begun, the symbolism reverses. Sweeping, mopping or scrubbing on the first day is avoided in some homes because newly arrived good luck is said to be swept or washed out with the dirt.
Avoiding Words of Loss and Illness
Words connected with death, sickness, losing or bad luck may be avoided during Lunar New Year visits. The taboo reflects the older idea that unfortunate language spoken at an auspicious beginning could influence the months that follow.
Red for Luck, Black for Misfortune
Red is strongly associated with auspiciousness during Chinese New Year in Singapore, while black has traditionally been avoided because of its associations with mourning, death and bad fortune. Contemporary practice varies widely, especially in everyday clothing.
Broken Crockery Can Break the Year’s Luck
Breaking bowls, plates, cups or other household objects around New Year may be interpreted as an unfortunate sign. Older Singapore Chinese accounts associate broken crockery with family disruption or the idea of literally “eating into” one’s wealth.
Do Not Cut Away Good Fortune
Sharp objects such as knives and scissors have been avoided at the start of the new year because cutting can symbolically sever the thread of good fortune. The same symbolism helps explain why some people arrange a haircut before, rather than during, the festival.
A Food Surplus Carries Wealth Forward
Leaving food from the previous year can represent abundance continuing into the next. Rather than finishing everything, a visible surplus is traditionally read as a hopeful sign that the household will continue to have more than it needs.
Teochew Chopsticks Should Match in Length
A Singapore reference on Chinese New Year records a Teochew belief that chopsticks should be equal in length. Uneven chopsticks were linked in folk interpretation with a traveller “missing the boat”, giving an ordinary dining object an unlucky travel association.
Children Stay Awake for Their Parents’ Longevity
One New Year’s Eve belief recorded in Singapore says that children who remain awake late into the night may help lengthen their parents’ lives. It is a symbolic family custom rather than a literal predictor of lifespan.
Welcoming the God of Wealth at the Right Hour
Some households consult a traditional almanac for a favourable hour and direction in which to welcome the God of Wealth. Lights may be kept on and doors or windows opened so that prosperity is symbolically invited into the home.
Mandarin Oranges Bring Luck in Pairs
Exchanging pairs of mandarin oranges during New Year visiting is closely tied to auspicious Chinese wordplay. Their names can evoke ideas of luck and wealth, while presenting them in pairs reinforces the favourable idea that good things come together.
The Third Day Is an Unlucky Visiting Day
The third day of Chinese New Year has traditionally been treated by some families as a poor day for social visits. Singapore records describe a belief that troublesome spirits are abroad, making staying home preferable to seeking company outside.
Depositing Money on Li Chun
A modern Singapore luck ritual involves putting money into a bank account on Li Chun, the traditional beginning of spring. Some participants choose a supposedly auspicious time, colour or deposit amount in the hope of encouraging financial luck for the year.
Chap Goh Mei Oranges in the Singapore River
A Singapore version of the fifteenth-night matchmaking custom involved unmarried women throwing oranges, and in some accounts red dates and longans, into the Singapore River while wishing for a suitable husband. It belongs to older local festival practice rather than everyday courtship today.
Even Numbers for Hongbao
Money placed in a hongbao is traditionally given in even-numbered amounts because pairs are considered favourable. Odd-numbered sums have an uncomfortable association with condolence money and funerals, so they may be avoided for celebratory gifts.
The Seventh Lunar Month and Everyday Ghost Taboos
The Underworld Gates Open in the Seventh Month
Hungry Ghost Festival folklore familiar in Singapore says that the gates of the underworld open during the seventh lunar month, allowing wandering souls to enter the human world. Offerings and performances are partly shaped by this belief.
Avoiding Late-Night Wandering
Some people avoid unnecessary outings late at night during the seventh lunar month because spirits are believed to be more active after dark. The restriction varies by household and is a cultural taboo rather than evidence of supernatural danger.
The Ghost-Month Swimming Taboo
Swimming may be avoided during the seventh month in one widely recorded taboo. Folk accounts speak of dangerous “water ghosts” pulling swimmers beneath the surface. Ordinary water-safety risks are real, but the supernatural explanation belongs to folklore.
Never Disturb Roadside Offerings
Food, incense and other offerings left beside roads or footpaths during the seventh month are intended for spirits. Accidentally stepping on them or deliberately kicking them is considered disrespectful and, in folk belief, may attract spiritual trouble.
Do Not Peek Beneath an Altar
A lesser-known Hungry Ghost Month taboo recorded by Singapore’s National Library warns against looking beneath temporary altar tables. The space is treated as spiritually sensitive during the period and unnecessary curiosity is traditionally discouraged.
Red May Attract Spirits
Although red is lucky in many Chinese celebrations, one seventh-month belief gives it a different meaning. Some people avoid wearing conspicuous red because spirits are said to be attracted to the colour during the Hungry Ghost period.
Do Not Linger Beside Walls
Ghost-Month lore recorded in Singapore includes an unusual warning about standing or walking too close to walls. A traditional explanation says wandering spirits may cling to walls, so keeping some distance is treated as a precaution.
Nighttime Laundry Can Invite an Unwanted Presence
Some families avoid leaving clothes hanging outdoors overnight during the seventh lunar month. One folk interpretation says a wandering spirit might attach itself to the clothing and then be carried back into the household.
The Front Row at Getai Is for Spirits
At some seventh-month getai performances, the front row of seats is deliberately left empty. The places are traditionally understood to be reserved for unseen spirit guests, while human spectators sit behind them.
Birth, Childhood, Marriage, and Longevity Signs
Pregnancy beliefs in this section describe inherited cultural explanations, not medical causes of miscarriage, premature birth, disability or other pregnancy outcomes. Singapore’s public-health services recommend professional antenatal care and clinical assessment during pregnancy.
Avoid Moving Furniture During Pregnancy
Traditional Chinese birth customs recorded in Singapore caution against moving furniture or extensively rearranging the home while a woman is pregnant. Older explanations say such disturbance could unsettle the fetus or interfere with protective forces around the pregnancy.
The Hokkien Crab Pregnancy Belief
One Hokkien pregnancy taboo recorded in Singapore concerns eating crab. Folk reasoning associated the crab’s many moving legs with a future child becoming excessively mischievous or “having too many hands”. The association is symbolic, not medical.
Red Clothing at the Baby’s Full Month
At a traditional Chinese baby’s full-month celebration, red clothing and gold jewellery may be used when the child is presented to ancestors or deities. Red carries auspicious associations, while the ritual can express hopes for protection and a fortunate life.
Red Eggs for Renewal and Good Fortune
Dyed red eggs are associated with Chinese birth celebrations in Singapore. Their round form evokes completeness, the egg represents new life, and red adds an auspicious layer, making them a familiar symbol of good fortune for the newborn.
A Black Spot to Ward Off the Evil Eye
In some Indian Singaporean birth traditions, a small black mark may be placed on a baby’s forehead during an early cradle ceremony. It functions as a protective sign intended to deflect the evil eye or unwanted attention.
Choosing a Baby Name With Astrology
Some Indian families in Singapore traditionally consult an astrologer when selecting an appropriate name for a newborn. The practice links naming with the child’s birth circumstances and an auspicious beginning, although many families choose names without astrology.
Two Auspicious Events Should Not Clash
Chinese dialect-heritage material preserved in Singapore records a belief that a pregnant woman entering a newlywed couple’s room could create a clash between two highly auspicious events. The feared result was misfortune for one of the parties.
Spring Onion at a Baby’s First Haircut
One heritage custom documented by the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations has a hairdresser hold a spring onion during a baby’s first haircut and later plant it. Wordplay and symbolism connect the onion with hopes that the child will grow up bright and intelligent.
Do Not Break Longevity Noodles
Long noodles served for birthdays or longevity celebrations are traditionally kept unbroken. Their length represents a long life, so deliberately cutting the strands can be seen as symbolically shortening the very blessing the dish is meant to express.
Certain Ages Are Life Checkpoints
Chinese heritage accounts maintained in Singapore record particular ages, including 55, 66, 73 and 84, as traditional life hurdles. Families might mark such ages carefully or perform rites intended to pass safely through a period associated with vulnerability.
Celebrating Nine Instead of Ten
In one longevity custom, a birthday ending in nine may receive more attention than the following round-number birthday. Nine can evoke the idea of lasting a long time, while ten represents fullness, after which decline is traditionally feared to begin.
Choosing a Wedding Date by Bazi
Some Chinese couples select a wedding date after comparing the couple’s birth information through bazi or related traditional calculations. The chosen day is intended to harmonise the marriage with auspicious timing rather than leaving the date entirely to convenience.
A Boy Rolling on the Bridal Bed
Traditional Chinese wedding material preserved in Singapore records a young boy being allowed to roll on a newly prepared bridal bed. The action symbolises fertility and, in older versions of the custom, the hope that the couple will soon have a son.
Death, Wakes, and the Returning Soul
Saying “Choy!” After Death Talk
Among Chinese Singaporeans, an unwelcome remark about death or disaster may be answered with “choy!” or a similar expression. National Heritage Board research records the response as a way of verbally rejecting bad luck rather than allowing ominous words to stand.
Covering Mirrors and Deity Images
Traditional Chinese death rituals in Singapore include covering mirrors and images of household deities with red cloth or paper. One older explanation is that sacred images and reflective surfaces should not be directly exposed to the pollution or inauspiciousness associated with death.
Bright Colours Are Avoided in Mourning
Bright celebratory colours, especially red, have traditionally been avoided at Chinese wakes and funerals in Singapore. Their auspicious associations are considered inappropriate in a mourning setting and may be seen as symbolically conflicting with the occasion.
Provisioning the Deceased for the Next Journey
Older Chinese funerary customs recorded in Singapore placed items such as a pearl, coin or rice with the deceased. Different explanations describe protection for the body, food for the journey or symbolic payment to officials and judges in the afterlife.
Wake Lengths Favour Odd Numbers
Singapore Chinese wakes have traditionally lasted an odd number of days, with three days common in modern practice. One symbolic explanation treats an odd number as an incomplete cycle, leaving open the possibility of another life rather than representing final closure.
Taking a Red Thread Home From a Wake
Visitors to some Chinese wakes may receive or take a short piece of red thread. It functions as a protective object intended to prevent harmful spirits or the inauspicious atmosphere of death from following the visitor home.
Funeral Music Can Drive Spirits Away
Music accompanying a traditional funeral procession has had more than a ceremonial function in some accounts. Loud sound was also believed to frighten away malicious spirits that might otherwise interfere with the deceased or the mourners.
Rites Help a Ghost Become an Ancestor
Traditional final-night funeral rites may be understood as helping the deceased move through the otherworld and complete the transition from a wandering ghost into an ancestor. The exact ritual and interpretation differ among Chinese dialect traditions.
Hui Hun Ri: The Soul Returns Home
Hui hun ri, the “day of the soul’s return”, is documented in Singapore Chinese death-belief research. A meal may be prepared and candles used to guide the deceased home for a final nocturnal visit, with traditional specialists calculating the expected time and direction.
Keramat, Kusu Island, and Local Spirit Geography
Keramat and Datuk Kong traditions can be devotional, religious or heritage practices rather than “superstitions” in the way practitioners understand them. They are included here only where Singapore heritage records describe a particular protective power, wish-making practice, spirit presence or divinatory expectation.
The Pontianak
The pontianak is one of the best-known female spirits in Malay folklore familiar in Singapore. She is traditionally portrayed as the restless or vengeful spirit of a woman who died in childbirth, and became an enduring figure in Singaporean horror cinema and storytelling.
Keramat Shrines and Fertility Wishes
Some keramat shrines in Singapore have been credited by devotees with helping people conceive children. Such powers belong to particular sacred places and remembered holy figures; they should not be treated as a belief shared by all Malay or Muslim Singaporeans.
Seeking Lucky Numbers at a Keramat
Singapore research on keramat traditions records devotees asking certain shrines or guardian figures for lucky lottery numbers. The request treats the sacred figure as a possible source of hidden knowledge or fortune, though the practice varies greatly between shrines and worshippers.
The Kusu Island Fertility Tree
During the annual pilgrimage to Kusu Island, a tree associated with fertility wishes has become part of local devotional practice. Visitors may attach written wishes asking for children, linking the physical tree with hopes that a desired pregnancy will be granted.
Tying Stones at Kusu’s Keramat
Stone-tying is recorded around the keramat sites on Kusu Island. The action can accompany a wish or petition, turning an ordinary stone into a temporary physical sign of a request made at a place believed to possess spiritual potency.
Datuk Kong Protects a Particular Place
Singapore’s small Datuk Kong shrines reflect intertwined Chinese and Malay sacred traditions. The guardian’s influence is often understood as local: a particular neighbourhood, tree, road junction or patch of land is treated as the sphere under that spirit’s protection.
The German Girl Shrine’s Oracle Eye
Pulau Ubin’s German Girl Shrine accumulated several layers of legend. One older account described an “oracle eye” associated with the keramat that was said to blink at a successful petitioner, signalling that the person’s wish would be granted.
Modern Singapore: Number Luck and Hospital-Call Rituals
168 Is Luckier Than 164
Singapore number superstition often uses Chinese-language sound associations. A medical-journal discussion of local beliefs contrasted vehicle number 168, heard auspiciously as a route toward prosperity, with 164, which can be interpreted through Cantonese wordplay as an ominous sequence.
Accident Plate Numbers Become 4D Numbers
A Singapore medical article noted the familiar practice of recording a vehicle number seen at an accident scene and using it for 4D betting. The superstition imagines that a number connected with misfortune might subsequently produce luck; it is descriptive folklore, not a gambling recommendation.
Avoiding Bao While on Call
A survey of 68 Singapore doctors, nurses and medical students documented a workplace belief that eating bao before or during an on-call shift could bring an unpleasantly busy night. The explanation draws partly on local wordplay surrounding the word bao.
A Seven-Flower Bath Before Call
The same Singapore healthcare survey recorded respondents who associated bathing before a call shift with better luck; several specifically mentioned a seven-flower bath. This was workplace folklore reported by a small survey, not a clinical practice or evidence-based method.
The “Black Cloud” Colleague
Healthcare workers surveyed in Singapore used the idea of a “black cloud” for a person thought to attract difficult or unlucky on-call shifts. Twenty-four respondents reported believing in such individuals, showing how superstition can develop inside a modern profession.
Never Say the Call Is Going Well Too Early
Nearly half of the healthcare respondents in one Singapore survey would not say they were “having a good call” until the following day. Saying it too early was treated as tempting fate and risking a sudden run of emergencies or extra work.
Bread as a Lucky On-Call Food
The hospital-call study also recorded a previously undescribed local belief linking bread with favourable luck during duty. It appeared within a small professional sample and is best understood as occupational folklore rather than a general Singaporean food superstition.
Beef as an Unlucky On-Call Food
Researchers in the same Singapore survey encountered an opposite food rule concerning beef, which some respondents regarded as unlucky before an on-call shift. The finding illustrates how highly localised beliefs can emerge inside a particular workplace community.
Why the Meanings Vary Across Singapore
Singapore sources repeatedly show that a belief can change with dialect background, family history and setting. Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka and Hainanese traditions do not always interpret birth, marriage or death in the same way. Malay-derived keramat traditions have also interacted with Chinese Datuk Kong worship, while Indian families maintain their own protective practices around infancy and naming.
Urban life has not removed this process of creating and adapting folklore. Li Chun bank deposits turn an older auspicious date into a modern financial ritual, while hospital staff have developed food taboos and “black cloud” language around on-call work. A practice can also be devotional to one participant, a family custom to another and a superstition to an outside observer, so the surrounding context matters as much as the action itself.
📚 Roots of Belief
- National Library Board Singapore — Custom and Culture Series — Identifies Singapore collections devoted to Chinese customs, festivals, traditions, superstitions, myths and taboos, including material on births, weddings and funerals. (The National Library Board is Singapore’s statutory library authority.)
- Singapore Infopedia — Chinese New Year Customs in Singapore — Documents the Kitchen God offering, cleaning customs, New Year’s Eve wakefulness, God of Wealth welcoming, mandarin oranges, third-day avoidance, Chap Goh Mei practices and Li Chun deposits. (Singapore Infopedia is maintained by the National Library Board.)
- Singapore Infopedia — Chinese New Year Taboos — Records taboos involving unlucky words, sweeping, colour, breakage, blades, surplus food and the Teochew equal-length chopstick belief. (Singapore Infopedia is maintained by the National Library Board.)
- Singapore Infopedia — Hongbao Giving — Explains the auspicious role of red packets and the preference for even-numbered celebratory amounts rather than odd sums associated with condolence money. (Singapore Infopedia is maintained by the National Library Board.)
- Singapore Infopedia — Zhong Yuan Jie (Hungry Ghost Festival) — Records Singapore seventh-month beliefs concerning wandering spirits, swimming, nighttime activity, offerings, altar taboos, red clothing, walls, outdoor laundry and seats reserved for spirits at performances. (Singapore Infopedia is maintained by the National Library Board.)
- Singapore Infopedia — Chinese Birth Rituals — Documents Singapore Chinese pregnancy taboos, dialect-specific food beliefs, full-month practices, red clothing and red eggs associated with childbirth. (Singapore Infopedia is maintained by the National Library Board.)
- Singapore Infopedia — Indian Birth Rituals — Records the protective black mark placed on babies in some Indian families and the use of astrology in traditional naming practices. (Singapore Infopedia is maintained by the National Library Board.)
- Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations — Culture: Rituals — Preserves dialect-heritage material concerning pregnancy taboos, baby haircuts, longevity noodles, life-stage ages, birthday numerology, marriage-date selection and bridal-bed symbolism. (SFCCA is a national umbrella organisation for Singapore Chinese clan associations and cultural heritage work.)
- HealthHub Singapore — Women’s Health Services — Provides the medical context for antenatal consultations and pregnancy care, distinguishing inherited pregnancy beliefs from clinical guidance. (HealthHub is Singapore’s national public-health information portal.)
- Roots — Documenting Chinese Death Beliefs in Singapore — Records Singapore Chinese attitudes toward speaking of death, the response “choy!”, dialect variation and the hui hun ri belief that the deceased returns home for one night. (Roots is the National Heritage Board’s official heritage portal.)
- Singapore Infopedia — Chinese Death Rituals — Documents mirror covering, mourning colours, objects placed with the deceased, odd-number wake lengths, red thread, funeral music and beliefs about the soul’s passage. (Singapore Infopedia is maintained by the National Library Board.)
- BiblioAsia — A History of Singapore Horror — Provides Singapore cultural history for the pontianak and its place in Malay folklore and local popular culture. (BiblioAsia is published by Singapore’s National Library Board.)
- BiblioAsia — Then and Now: The Keramat Phenomenon in Singapore — Examines Singapore keramat traditions, including shrines associated with fertility, wishes and requests for winning numbers, while explaining their mixed religious and cultural histories. (BiblioAsia is published by Singapore’s National Library Board.)
- Roots — Pilgrimage to Kusu Island — Documents the living pilgrimage tradition, prayers for prosperity and fertility, the wish tree and practices at Kusu Island’s keramat sites. (Roots is the National Heritage Board’s official heritage portal.)
- Roots — Small Sacred Spaces — Explains Singapore Datuk Kong and Datuk Keramat shrines, their Sino-Malay history, local protective roles and associations with requests for lucky numbers. (Roots is the National Heritage Board’s official heritage portal.)
- BiblioAsia — Unravelling the Mystery of Ubin’s German Girl Shrine — Traces the Pulau Ubin shrine’s evolving legends, including the account of an oracle eye said to signal that a petitioner’s wish would be granted. (BiblioAsia is published by Singapore’s National Library Board.)
- Annals, Academy of Medicine Singapore — Take a Bao if You Are Not Superstitious — Reports a 68-person Singapore healthcare survey on bao, seven-flower baths, “black cloud” colleagues, speaking about a good call, food beliefs and local number superstition. (The article was published in the medical journal of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore and reports its own Singapore survey.)