Business Of Death In A Discreet, Dignified Place

Source : The Straits Times, Saturday, October 13, 2007

URA releases details of proposed funeral parlour in Sin Ming. A future industrial development will shield it from nearby homes and access to it would steer traffic away from residential areas.

FUNERAL parlours in Hong Kong and Japan look just like modern office buildings, complete with lift lobbies.

But inside, they are kitted out with dining areas and large halls for wakes.

Often sited within mixed residential and industrial areas, they are what the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) here is looking to copy in the possible funeral parlour in Sin Ming, slated for the empty plot next to the Bright Hill Temple.

Yesterday, the URA released details of the parlour, assuring the residents of Sin Ming that it will be a quiet, discreet and dignified place that will not advertise the business of death so near to their homes.

The URA stressed that no decision had been made on where the parlour would be as a study was still ongoing. It said it wanted residents’ feedback.

Asked about alternative sites for the parlour - such as Mandai, already home to a crematorium and columbarium - the URA returned to its point that site details had not been finalised.

Its spokesman said: ‘We are looking at details on the siting of such parlours, the timing for implementation, the mitigating measures that would be needed to be in place to minimise disturbance to the surroundings.’

When The Straits Times asked via e-mail why Sin Ming was being considered despite the area’s lack of an MRT station, the URA replied that it was accessible by public and private transport.

It also said a future industrial development would shield the parlour from nearby homes and access to it would steer traffic away from residential areas. Rules would be set up on the design and operation of the parlour.

The URA spokesman said that Yishun, another proposed site, had been tendered out, but there were no takers. The feedback it received suggested that it was not centrally located.

The proposed Sin Ming site is near a school, HDB blocks, private condominiums and terrace houses.

Residents told Transport Minister Raymond Lim last Sunday that they did not like the parlour being near their homes because of the taboos surrounding death.

Other residents The Straits Times interviewed on Wednesday expressed concern about the noise from funeral processions, the chanting, incense fumes and traffic jams. These things would depress their property value, others said.

Operations supervisor Koh Kwee Pheng, 61, has had no luck selling his terrace house next to the crematorium in the last six months.

He said: ‘Plenty of buyers have come, but the moment they see the temple, they don’t want it. With a new funeral parlour here, it’s going to be worse for me.’

The principal of Ai Tong School, Mr Ng Keng Song, also said the site was ‘inappropriate’. ‘People performing the rites will not just create noise. Mourning families may instil fear in young minds,’ he said.

The area’s 12 existing funeral parlours are clustered in units in two single-storey blocks along Sin Ming Drive.

The 20-odd carpark lots there are barely enough for the crowds of mourners, say parlour operators.

Mrs Ang Yew Seng, who has managed Ang Yew Seng Funeral Parlour for 10 years, confirmed that traffic jams and illegal parking are the norm.

Parlour operators say they worry more about rising rentals and cost-cutting among themselves than about where they will be sited.

The URA noted that a majority of wakes here are still held in temporary venues like Housing Board void decks and tents along streets and in carparks. Also, most funeral parlours here are operating out of converted terrace factories, not purpose-built facilities.

A PROPERTY OWNER’S WORRY

‘Plenty of buyers have come, but the moment they see the temple, they don’t want it. With a new funeral parlour here, it’s going to be worse for me.’MR KOH KWEE PHENG, 61, who has had no luck selling his terrace house next to the crematorium in the last six months.