Singapore to regulate spirit mediums

(cc) ROQUE141, Flickr.com.

It seems that the Taoist Federation in Singapore will be regulating spirit mediums soon. Next month it will begin issuing forms to create a registry of mediums. These mediums are believed to channel Chinese deities, and are called tang ki in Hokkien.

This seems to be an effort to weed out what the Federation calls "a few bad apples". I'm not certain by what standards one determines a medium is a bad apple.

In any case, I have long thought it would be a good idea to have psychic licensing here in the U.S. For the sake of consumer protection, you have to be sure the people are getting what they paid for. Just as a doctor or a lawyer have to take a test to prove their proficiency in order to get a license, psychics should be required to have a psychic's license. They would need to pass a series of double-blind carefully conducted tests to determine that they really are psychic before they could be licensed to sell those services. After all, you don't want any fake psychics out there defrauding people out of money. That would only taint the entire industry.

On another side note, I visited the Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science last weekend. It was a wonderful experience walking in the contained tropical environment with all kinds of butterflies twirling around you. Really a nice way to feel the touch of nature. I would love to go in there sometime in clothing suitable to the warm wet atmosphere, and when there are few visitors, and just sit and meditate.