EXPLORE
Did I Just Invite a Ghost?
Various Superstitions of ASEAN countries
Written by _ Kim Si-eun, CEO of ASEAN Lab
Many Koreans believe in superstitions such as, “If you eat seaweed soup on the day of the test, you will fail”, “Unmarried women shouldn’t go back home immediately after visiting a funeral”, and “If your ears are tickled, someone is badmouthing you.” Korean superstitions commonly involve ghosts, and many of them were created to instill concepts of hygiene and good manners. Likewise, the people in ASEAN countries also believe in many kinds of superstitions.
Since belief in ghosts is common throughout ASEAN countries, funerals frequently play a key role in local traditions. In Thailand, when you go to a funeral, you must wash your face with water containing pomegranate leaves or coconut juice before entering the house. If not, ghosts will enter the house with you. In Viet Nam, pregnant women are not allowed to attend funerals. This is because the child in the womb may be affected by ghosts. Also, in Thailand, be careful not to hit a dish with a spoon as it is considered to invite ghosts to the table. This superstition may be aimed at establishing table manners, but it requires caution since Thais take seriously the idea that ghosts coexist with us in daily life and can steal food from people who are alive. Such a belief is also widespread in other Southeast Asian countries, such as Viet Nam.
Regarding luck, Thais believe that if you step out of the house with your right foot first, you will have good luck all day. However, when you are going out to take a test, stepping with the left side firstbrings luck, while the right side brings misfortune. Thus, they pay more attention to the left side while taking tests. On the other hand, in Viet Nam, the right foot must touch the ground first.
In Malaysia, it is believed that by soaking water in a bowl after a meal, good luck can be attracted. This superstition may have been created to facilitate washing dishes. In the Philippines, they believe cleaning and dumping garbage at night drives luck away. On the other hand, in Viet Nam, all cleaning must be done at night and before the holidays as it. Is believed that cleaning in the morning drives away money.
In Viet Nam, superstitions about tests involve a variety of foods that should and should not be eaten. If you eat a banana, you will slip and fail. Eating an egg should be avoided as it resembles the shape of the number zero, which might indicate your score. The food you should eat instead is red beans. This is because the pronunciation of red beans and pass are both dau in Vietnamese. Even if they don’t believe in the superstition, many people still follow these dietary traditions just to give themselves encouragement for passing the test.
Some of the more amusing superstitions in Malaysia and Thailand say that when an unmarried woman sings in the kitchen, she will meet an old man or won’t have a boyfriend. The origin of this believe was perhaps to encourage women to focus on washing dishes. In Indonesia, there is a cute belief that if one of your eyelashes fall out, someone is missing you.
Finally, in Thailand, lemongrass is poked into the ground upside down to stop the rain. This practice is so widespread that it was also featured in the Thai film Riam Fighting Angel, introduced at the 2nd ASEAN Film Week hosted by the ASEAN Culture House last year. It’s twice as fun when we understand the cultural context behind the South East Asian films we watch, or the unfamiliar traditions we may encounter while traveling through ASEAN countries.
KOREA FOUNDATION
