Scare tactics

Last week on my way to the grocery store, I encountered an eerie sight at the building next to ours. It looked like some kind of creative/artsy installation but in reality they were some elements, which represent death in the Chinese religious culture, placed at the mailbox of someone who owes an illegal loan shark money. I have blogged about this phenomenon before - click here

What you can see stuck to the rocking chair are Hell money notes that are usually burned during funeral rites. It is believed that the dead, in netherworld, would receive them and hence have some pocket money to spend! A page ripped from a newspaper's obituary section was also part of the ensemble. The message? "If you do not pay up, yours will be next!"

What fascinates me about this particular case of illegal loan collection is how creative the scare-shame tactics have become. If this particular "installation" was found in an art exhibition, it would be deemed expressive or artistic. But at the ground floor of a residential apartment, it's plain disturbing!