Jason: Eh, wait, don’t pick that up!
Marcus: Huh? What?
Jason: That ten-dollar note on the pavement. Leave it there.
Marcus: Why would I leave ten dollars lying around? Someone dropped it.
Jason: It’s Hungry Ghost Month. You never know. Some people leave money or objects as offerings. If you pick them up, you might bring a ghost home.
Marcus: Ah, here we go again. You and your ghost stories.
Jason: I’m serious! My grandmother always warned us about this. During Hungry Ghost Month, spirits are believed to wander around. Some things left outside aren’t meant for the living.
Marcus: But how would a ghost attach itself to a ten-dollar note?
Jason: I don’t know the mechanics, okay? It’s a spiritual thing, not physics.
Marcus: Exactly. That’s my point. If there’s no evidence, why believe it?
Jason: Because people have experienced strange things. My uncle picked up some coins near a tree years ago. That night he couldn’t sleep. He kept hearing noises outside his room.
Marcus: Singapore has cats, birds, rats, motorcycles, construction work, and noisy neighbours. Hearing sounds at night isn’t exactly paranormal evidence.
Jason: You always have an explanation for everything.
Marcus: Usually because there is one.
Jason: Fine. What about all those stories online? People pick up random offerings and then suddenly have bad luck.
Marcus: That’s called confirmation bias.
Jason: Big words again.
Marcus: It means people remember the bad things that happen after an event and ignore all the times nothing happens. Imagine a thousand people pick up money. Nine hundred and ninety-nine have a normal week. One person gets a flat tyre and immediately blames the ghost.
Jason: Or maybe the ghost caused the flat tyre.
Marcus: Then why didn’t the ghost cause problems for the other nine hundred and ninety-nine people?
Jason: Maybe that ghost was lazy.
Marcus: A selective, part-time ghost with a personal schedule?
Jason: Sounds reasonable to me.
Marcus: You’re impossible.
Jason: Look, traditions exist for a reason. Our grandparents weren’t stupid.
Marcus: I agree. But traditions don’t have to be literally true to serve a purpose.
Jason: What do you mean?
Marcus: Maybe the rule discouraged people from taking things that weren’t theirs. If everyone left offerings alone, it showed respect. That’s a social benefit, not proof of ghosts.
Jason: Hmm. That’s actually not a bad point.
Marcus: See? Sometimes traditions carry useful values even when the supernatural explanation isn’t real.
Jason: But what if you’re wrong? What if there really are spirits?
Marcus: Then they’ve had plenty of opportunities to haunt me already.
Jason: Why?
Marcus: When I was in secondary school, I picked up a fifty-cent coin during Hungry Ghost Month.
Jason: You did what?
Marcus: And nothing happened.
Jason: Maybe the haunting process was delayed.
Marcus: It’s been twenty years.
Jason: That’s a very patient ghost.
Marcus: Exactly.
Jason: You know, a few years ago I found a red packet near a void deck. I didn’t touch it. I walked all the way around it.
Marcus: That’s because you were scared.
Jason: Correct. Extremely scared.
Marcus: Did anything happen if you walked around it?
Jason: No.
Marcus: And if you’d picked it up?
Jason: I don’t know.
Marcus: That’s the thing. You can’t use “I don’t know” as proof that ghosts were involved.
Jason: True. But you also can’t prove ghosts don’t exist.
Marcus: Fair enough. Science doesn’t prove a negative. It asks whether there’s reliable evidence. So far, nobody has produced convincing evidence that picking up street money summons supernatural roommates.
Jason: When you put it that way, it does sound a bit ridiculous.
Marcus: A bit?
Jason: Okay, very ridiculous.
Marcus: Look, if someone leaves offerings intentionally, I won’t touch them either.
Jason: Because you’re afraid?
Marcus: No. Because I respect other people’s beliefs and practices.
Jason: That’s actually a good reason.
Marcus: See? We don’t need ghosts to justify being considerate.
Jason: But I’m still not picking up random money during Hungry Ghost Month.
Marcus: That’s your choice.
Jason: And you’re still thinking scientifically about everything.
Marcus: Also my choice.
Jason: So what are we doing about that ten-dollar note?
Marcus: Leaving it there.
Jason: Finally! You’ve learned.
Marcus: No, I’m leaving it there because it’s probably dirty and I don’t know where it’s been.
Jason: Scientific reasoning defeats ghosts again.
Marcus: Every time.
Jason: Until the day a ghost appears.
Marcus: If that happens, I’ll happily revise my hypothesis.
Jason: Deal. And if the ghost asks for the ten dollars?
Marcus: Then it’s definitely living in Singapore. Everything is expensive.
Science Vs Superstition 
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