Halloween is the spookiest night of the year. It is also a boon to the retail industry - even during a pandemic.
And, with more people indoors and looking for a little cheer during another tough year, even pet costumes are also flying off the racks.
Halloween has come to be most closely associated with the pumpkin, but apples have also played an important role in it’s history.
Bobbing for apples remains a traditional Halloween party game. This practice used to be considered a form of divination performed around Halloween. Young people would literally dunk their heads in a tub of water and try to bite into the floating apple, in a quest to figure out their future partner.
As with any big celebration, getting the Halloween decorations right is important. During my college days, I love to decorate the exterior of my house to attract (or terrify?) the trick or treaters who come knocking.
According to folklore, the spirits of the dead were able to come back to life to harm people and crops in the physical world. People tried to appease the restless spirits on Halloween. And, these practices led to many of today's Halloween traditions. Thus, people used to wear costumes of monsters, ghosts, and devils to scare away the harmful spirits.
Today, people still celebrate by wearing scary costumes. However, now, they also dress up like popular celebrities, children's show characters, princesses, super heroes and much more.
Traditionally, if no treat is given, they can play a trick on the homeowners.
The Halloween celebration has spread to many countries throughout the world as a fun and commercial event.
Halloween is centered mostly around sweet foods. Traditional foods to eat on Halloween would be caramel apples, candy corn, caramel corn, any foods involving pumpkin (pie, bread, cake, pudding, etc) and soul cake. Soul cake is a Halloween tradition. They are like a cross between cookies and cupcakes.
Some daring people may visit spooky places like a cemetary, battlefield or other historic landmark. Some may even go to a ticketed “haunted house”, which hosts a thrilling and spooky attraction where actors are hired to scare people.
Trick-or-Treating is the most popular activity to do on Halloween night. Trick-or-treating is a fun activity that starts when the sun sets on October 31st.
A fun trick people play for trick-or-treaters is that there are bowls that say “please take one” and there will be a decoration next to the bowl that’s about human-sized. When the children reach for the bowl, the decoration tries to grab the trick-or-treater, making them realize it was actually a person in costume!
Some houses will not give anything to people who don’t wear costumes. A rule on Halloween is, if the outside lights of the house are off, then they are not giving out to trick-or-treaters.
I have an eye for Candy Apples
Apple always has a place in harvest celebrations. I find it particularly alluring to gaze at the dipped apples on sticks with bright red glaze showcasing next to a glass window at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. It’s an ingenious way of enticing potential customers, like myself. To me, this is the perfect blend of sweet and spicy confectionery.
Spotting Bats
It’s likely that bats were present at the earliest celebrations of proto-Halloween. Medieval folklore expanded upon the spooky connotation of bats with a number of superstition built around the idea that bats were the omen of death.
Gorging on Candy
The rise in the popularity of trick-or-treating inspired candy companies to make a marketing push with small, individually wrapped confections.
Shopping Hacks
I have the tendency to go hunt for Halloween goodies, one day after Halloween because they will go on super sale, the day after.
Every year, my friends and family will make it a tradition to visit the pumpkin patch. Visiting a pumpkin patch isn’t just about finding the best pumpkin. But, the experience and fond memories that I make while there. Every pumpkin patch is unique and offers different activities. Pumpkin Picking is one of my favourite activities during Fall.
The best part of Fall is heading to the local pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin with my family. These pumpkin patches are usually just a short drive from Downtown, but I feel like I am being transported far away to a farmland with corn mazes, hayrides and apple cider donuts.
I, especially, look forward to the yearly Pumpkin Patch adventures. I enjoy admiring hundreds of pumpkins, corn stalks, hay bales, animal feedings while devouring tasty autumn snacks.
So on every October 31st, as the veil between the supernatural world and the human world is the thinnest, remember to wish all Mooers “Happy Halloween!”
( Have Fun, while Staying Safe! )
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Instead of the usual gripping and spine-chilling horror stories, for this Halloween, I read up on tales of terror on some of the worst investment in the dark, eerie night as the October moon rose and the chilling autumnal air set in. The Spooky season has crept up on me once again! The voices of fear, the cries of despair, the widespread sense of doom as stock prices crash, the frantic rush to panic sell, the Coronavirus Crash of 2020, the oil collapse in 2020...These are recent investment horror stories that many try to banish from their memory. But perhaps this Halloween is a time to relive these investment nightmares so we could learn from their painful lessons, steer clear of these costly investing pitfalls and hopefully bypass the descent into the madness of investment disaster. Hearing these tales of horror could serve as a stark reminder to always tread carefully when comes to investing in stocks no matter how bullish the market may appear to be.
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Locally, most of us are familiar with the “Hungry Ghosts” Festival, that takes place yearly on the Seven Lunar month. This is named the “Hungry Ghosts” month because all Chinese worldwide, traditionally believe that the gates of Hell are opened for a month. During this period the dead souls are released to stalk freely in the land of the living. Based on folklores, some of the evil spirits can return to the earth to seek revenge or induce harm if due respects are not bestowed to them. Thus, in order to appease the dead, the Chinese pray to the dead souls with lavish offerings of food, joss sticks, symbolic silver and gold paper ingots and “Hell $$$”. Coupled with these creepy beliefs, the Ghost Festival is obviously terrifying. The Chinese prefer not to speak ill of the dead, and if possible to avoid them, especially during the late evenings.
In Japan, the Japanese celebrate “Obon” or “Festival of the Lantern” to honour their deceased ancestors yearly. It is an event that lasts for several days. They will hang lanterns outside their homes to guide their beloved ancestors’ spirits back to visit their homes.
On the other hand, the Westerners mark their Halloween 👻 🎃 Eve annually, on 31st October with edibles, laughters and merry makings although they too, have regarded this night to be a night where the spooky dead are free to roam the earth. Truly speaking our counterparts from the European countries, seem to be braver as they opt to dress in scary costumes of monsters or devils to frighten away the evil 👿 🦹‍♂️ instead of placating to them.
As we journey through Life, we ask ourselves whether is it better to adopt the supernatural beliefs of the East or to favour the Western concepts?
I am a cynic, and I have never believed in the supernatural world until just recently, when I witnessed that sudden cryptic digital display of “666444” on the screen of my untouched smartphone at 1155 hours, on that Halloween Eve. Initially, I did not noticed that errie text, because I was busy monitoring the US stock market. Eventually, when I noticed that sinister text, I was so bewildered and alarmed that I halted all my trading activities immediately.
Looking back at it now, I do not know whether it was just my wild imagination, that has pulled my legs or whether it was my Guardian Angel that has saved me me from a potentially heavy loss that night. Thank God for that creepy prompting which has saved me from a Horroudous 👻 🎃 this 2021.
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This is the true story of my sister, an ICU
(intensive care unit) nurse. A story that my sister would remember throughout her life.
She would never forget the fear and
trepidation, that she had experienced on her first night duty rotation as an overseas' graduate, working in an ICU of a local hospital. She realised that besides flexing her nursing skills and best practices, she had to adapt to the local customs and  cultures of her team- mates and more importantly, the patients under her care. More so, since that night fell on 31st October,  Halloween eve. The eve that was associated with the spookiest spirits to harm people of the living world. Based on this belief would my sister, who was accustomed to the Western World and their mysterious myths, work peacefully to shield her patients from the Evils?
Initially, the night had started as happy hours for my sister, as she carried out her duties to comfort and nurture her two patients under her care. She was beginning to relax and believe that it would be a routine "night" like the other day duties' rotations. In fact my sister thought that she could spare some minutes to enjoy the candies and cookies that one of the Consultant surgeons had generously gifted to the ICU staff. She had hoped for a peaceful Halloween eve but "Men proposes and God disposes".
Minutes after her supper break, her team leader announced the imminent arrival of a suspected Covid 19 positive patient from the A&E (accident and emergency) department.
Nothing could have prepared my sister for what was coming during the next four hours, in her fight for this very ill
patient's life. Certainly, it was not a Treat or Trick four hours. It was a a Life and Death battle for the ICU team. Unlike their counterparts in the Western world, who would don on their scary costumes  and grotesque face masks  to usher in Halloween , the ICU team had don on their full PPE (preventive, protective equipment) to fight the Coronavirus before Death could take its toll. In their "superheros" goggles and faceshields, they have bravely faced the danger of self exposures to perform various procedures to save a patient's life. Zealously, these unsung heroes have "bitten the bullet", and not a piece of apple pie to salvage a life. With their valiant efforts, they have successfully managed to halt the fabled "pumpkin carriage" from transporting their patient to the mortuary door.
Unlike her past experiences, of Halloween Eves cerebrated in the United States, she finds Halloween 2020 as her most memorable one, although the merry makings, the delicacies, the funs and laughters were totally absent.
Since that Halloween night, my sister's life would never be the same again. She is now grateful to God for allowing her to learn more life lessons than Life itself. A battle fought with faith and courage despite of immense tensions, fears and anxieties that her teammates and she have faced.
In a way, my sister's and her teammates' experience is like trading. It is a tough game of decisions and sometimes risks. The ICU team has to focus shrewdly  before making each timely move. Likewise, so do the wise investors in their investment journeys.
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@moomoo Event
In the last decade, Halloween has gained traction among younger generations of Singaporeans who are into dressing up, horror and thrills. Many tourist attractions started to have Halloween theme nights. One year, my friends and I decided to visit Night Safari during their Halloween Horror Night.
Night Safari is a nocturnal zoo and only opens at night. The enclosures are designed to mimick the animals’ natural habitats and visitors can explore the park using walking trails as well as a tram ride.
We anticipated the queues would be long on Halloween Horror Night and we were proven right when we saw the sea of people. Soon, dusk began to fall and under the cover of the night and the lush tropical greenery, the cicadas launched into their rhythmic song. Softly illuminated by the silvery light of the moon and the deliberately dim lamp posts, the animal park gave off a mysterious and eerie vibe. Jack-o’-lanterns glared at us from the shadowy holes that passed for their eyes. I could see my friends’ faces lighting up with excitement.
The Thumbuakar Fire Dance show outside the entrance started on the dot at 7.30pm. Amidst a backdrop of catchy music and drum beats, fire-eaters handled multiple torches of fire with ease and blew out long plumes of flames like dragons. The appreciative audience, including us, clapped enthusiastically. What a spectacular start to the night!
We then entered the park and made a beeline for the popular tram ride. The guide kept up a running commentary, her voice rising and falling at appropriate moments to create a spooky feel as the tram rolled past various animals—rhinocerous soaking idyllically in the water, a majestic lion yawning lazily, a powerful tiger prowling, a stately elephant unfurling its trunk and swaying its tail sedately, bongos grazing contentedly, etc. Some of the younger children on the tram were completely caught up in the atmosphere and spoke in hushed tones.
After the tram ride, we headed to the animal show where we were treated to a showcase of the prowess of various nocturnal creatures
like spotted hyenas and owls. While exploring the walking trail, it felt like a ghoul could pop up from behind the trees or bushes at any moment. In the distance, we could hear occasional thrilled screams from other visitors. I felt a little sorry for the animals which must be wondering what we silly two-legged creatures were up to. Our initial plan was to explore all the walking trails but not being nocturnal creatures, our eyelids began to get heavy and we decided to call it a night.
It was a very memorable visit as we learnt interesting facts about nocturnal animals and got to observe them in natural-looking habitats. The Halloween theme added a little something extra. Out of consideration for the animals, flash photography was not allowed, so we did not get to take many great photos but the memories still live on in my heart to this day.
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