In Singapore, we can either bury or cremate our loved ones after they pass on.
Burial
There is only 1 cemetery for burials and it is located at Choa Chu Kang Cemetery. Due to land scarcity, the burial period given by the government for all graves is 15 years. After 15 years, the remains will be exhumed, cremated and placed in columbaria niches.
Cremation
There are a few places to cremate our loved ones. Only Mandai is government owned, the other 2 are private crematorium.
- Mandai Crematorium
- Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery
- Tse Tho Am Temple
There’s a price difference between the two methods – it is definitely more costly to do a burial as land is scarce in Singapore and a gravestone will need to be erected. Cremation on the other hand cost lesser and you will have a choice to either store the remains in a columbarium or to do a sea burial, which will cost you the price of a boat to go out into the sea. It is also more labour intensive for a burial as physical manpower is required to slowly lower the deceased into the final resting place. Some people find this method calmer and more peaceful.
In the olden days, quite many of our grandparents were buried in Choa Chu Kang Cemetery; and I remembered visiting the cemetery once a year, during Qing Ming, with roasted chicken, roasted pork, fruits, ang ku kueh, cakes, black coffee and many other items. It was an elaborate affair as various family members would come together to clean up the grave, hold umbrellas for each other and pay respects. As a kid, the most fun part of it was putting joss-sticks at the other graves as a form of respect. It felt as though we were being kind to grandma’s neighbours. After being roasted under the hot sun, we would then drive to a columbarium in Bishan to visit my grandpa (I have no idea why they aren’t buried together… marital issues perhaps) .
At the columbarium, it is another round of squeezing with other families for space to lay out the prayer items and breathing in the thick incense smoke. Each time we are there, there will be short bickers of where the niche space is located at and the one who gets it right always has boasting rights for the day. “See! I told you it’s this way.”
After a full day of visiting and paying respects to our ancestors, we’ll share the food, cakes, kuehs and coffee and felt like we have once again had a reunion with family.
After our loved ones leave us, it rests upon the immediate family members and the future generations to decide how they will like to honour the faithfully departed. And there is one thing I am certain; for everyone who has left, regardless of where their final resting place is, they will live on forever in the hearts of some. And this in itself is enough.