he art of asking the dead has long been a tradition in Hong Kong. It is often common for those who are currently among the living to ask people who are among the dead about their lives. People bring about paper garments such as clothing, money and paper food to burn to those who have already deceased, in the belief that they will be able to receive them and have a better and more comfortable afterlife.
This tradition had started since the Spring-Autumn Warring Period in China, since 476 years BCE. This is a common ancient and traditional practice in China and Hong Kong. However the number of shops supporting this has since been on the decline as people are starting to believe less in luck and fortune nowadays.
When one performs the asking water practice, one pays a small fee to have someone place several drops of water on a table. The table then serves as the altar and portal into which the non-living beings go, and as such living people have a way in which Chinese believe they can approach the dead. Paper food, clothing and money is often torn into tiny bits, then burned and dissolved into the water, as though to give the money to those who have already deceased. However, this practice is very ancient and is no longer common in Hong Kong. Before, in the olden days when people were much more conservative, it was much more common to see people have "asking water" habits as people then were more religious and spiritual.
Another interpretation suggests that "Holy water" means money as the slang for money in Cantonese is "Holy water". Asking water is a symbolic meaning for the care which one places on one's ancestors and those who have deceased.