This year's Hungry Ghost Festival begins on Aug 13 (Thursday), and many Chinese are expected to make offerings of candles, food, joss sticks and others from Wednesday night onwards.Over the years, this practice has sometimes caused neighbourly disputes and even resulted in fire.It has also caused cleanliness and hygiene-related concerns with food offerings attracting animals and pests such as rats.In an advisory posted on its social media on Wednesday, the National Environment Agency (NEA) urged members of the public to be considerate and to keep shared spaces clean while paying respects.It also sought the public's cooperation not to toss or scatter joss paper, and to clear offerings after prayers.«Leaving items behind may constitute littering,» it added.An infographic shared by the agency suggested that those burning offerings can do so based on sincerity, burning smaller amounts of joss paper to reduce smoke and ashes.  Read more