Gen Z Taoist priest shares why knocking on hotel room doors doesn't keep ghosts away

Do you knock on the door before entering a hotel room? 

For some travellers, this practice is rooted in the belief that the action would alert spirits inside the hotel room of their arrival, allowing them to "leave and make way" for the guests.

But is it really necessary? 

According to Lee Chee Tong, a Singapore Taoist priest and content creator, the answer is no. 

In TikTok videos posted on Tuesday (Sept 1), Chee Tong said he had come across what he described as "the stupidest thing ever" — the idea that knocking before entering a hotel room could mean agreeing to share the space with any spirits inside. 

Questioning the logic behind the superstition, the 27-year-old said: "What do you mean? If the ghosts wants to haunt you, they will just haunt you no matter you knock on the door or not. What is this? Where did this saying even come from?"

That being said, he doesn't think that the worry is unfounded — he explained that it makes sense if the knocking was meant as a courtesy to let any spirits inside the room know that there are guests entering. 

"This one I can understand. This one got logic," he said. 

"If you are a human and you are in the room, and somebody knocks on your door, then if they're supposed to stay here, of course you will leave the room right?" 

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@qztaoism/video/7680516446501260565[/embed]

Still, Chee Tong said that knocking on the door would not offer any protection if a spirit has bad intentions.

"If the ghost wants to haunt you, if the room is haunted, you knock on the door or you don't knock on the door, the ghost will still haunt you," he said. 

The Gen Z Taoist priest, for his part, shared that he does not knock before entering hotel rooms. 

Despite this, he feels that people should do as they wish — as he does not believe the action would determine whether someone encounters anything supernatural or not. 

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In the video, Chee Tong also addressed another hotel room superstition he came across — one he described as "even more stupid". 

He recalled that a friend had told him that she would knock on hotel room doors before entering, only to "start scolding all the vulgarities" once inside. 

"Do you think it makes sense?" he asked, pointing out that these two actions contradicted each other. 

Taking the perspective of a ghost, Chee Tong quipped: "You asked me to kindly leave. Then I'm packing my things and I try to leave, and you start to scold the vulgarities. I don't want to leave already. I come in here to haunt you." 

Noting that there are "a lot of spiritual masters" giving advice these days, he urged viewers to "think with logic". 

People should apply the same logic on spirits as they were once humans too, he explained.

"If you all can think, the ghost can think also. So discern for yourself, please." 

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