WELIVETODIE

WE LIVE TO DIE: EDITOR’S NOTE

EDI-TOR’SNOTE

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Your life pretty much ends at the time when you die. But... what about those who are still living? What are they supposed to do? What about the people that are going to deal with you? Now this is a chance to take a closer look into the world of the afterlife industry and gain some insights you might never know.

My cultural roots have always fascinated me and I always like to ask “Why? Why? Why?” to many of the customs and traditions. My want to know on why does some of my cultural customs have to be this or that way eventually made me choose this topic about death and the dying trades revolving in the death trade.

The first funeral I went to was my paternal grandfather’s funeral when I was 6. I still can remember it clearly, the generations of uncles and aunties all the way down to the next generations, kneeling in front of the bed where my grandpa laid. The blue elaborate 寿衣(Shroud) my grandpa wore, the sound of the wailing and cries to my grandfather, yearning him to be back is still fresh in my memory. I saw my father and my other uncles carrying my grandpa’s body down to the void deck where they laid him into the golden-brown coffin.

Grandpa’s funeral was a simple Buddhist-style funeral attended by his many sons and daughters and the grand and great-grand children. I remember, on the last day of the funeral wake, I had to wear white socks while my attire for the past 5 days were white top and black bottom. The white socks were later to protect our feet while we walked on the scorching hot road, pushing my grandpa’s hearse. I have always wondered about the symbolical meaning of a certain action we were made to do during the wake, I wanted to know what it represented.

Growing up now, I have been to countless of funerals and the most recent one was in 2009 where my aunt passed away. I was involved in many of the logistic aspect of her funeral and I was there first hand in a grown up mindset to see these traditions and customs to happen right in front of me. I saw many of the behind-the-scene people and their effort in making one successful funeral for the deceased. It was a simple Buddhist style funeral so the decorations were kept to the minimal. I was present when the people were setting up the prominent yellow tentage and my aunt’s body were delivered first before the coffin arrived. I went forward to ask the behind-the-scene people about the various placements and the meaning of the things they were doing.

They were patient when answering my question, almost quite surprised for a teenage girl like me then was interested in those customs. My parents encouraged me to question the professionals directly too. I remembered going close to see my passed on aunt and also when the funeral assistants were doing last minutes procedure such as inserting pearls into my aunt’s mouth. When the coffin finally arrived, my aunt had a sealed coffin so I was also there when they did the sealing of the coffin with a industrial cement glue gun and screw drivers to ensure the coffin is airtight for the 3 days wake.

It was then, I was finally not oblivious to the existence of funeral-related jobs in Singapore, having to see a funeral event happening right before me. To me, these jobs existed for the benefit of the deceased and the bereaved. It is a respectful job.

Koh Min Yu

EDI-TOR’SNOTE

WE LIVE TO DIE:

to rejoice birth and to dread death.

veryone goes through a cycle of birth and death and no one escapes it. This cycle includes a beginning, a middle and an end. The beginning refers to birth, the middle refers to our midlife and the end refers to our old age and death. Chinese in Singapore, just like most of the people in the world, we do have similar mindset when we interpret this cycle.

To us, birth is a joyous occasion and is often celebrated with friends and family and parties and gathering.

To us, birth of a newborn is a gift and is a mark of a new life being. Whereas, looking at the other end of the cycle is death.

Death to us is a sad and a mournful milestone in life. Nobody lives forever and the departed will no longer be with us.

To us, death is a gloomy occasion and is often mourned with friends and family.

To us, the dead must be treated with caution and sadness to show our longing for the departed.

This is a common perspective of a human being;

To me, the emotion attached to a birth and death cycle should be inverted. Birth and Death cycle is a trapped cycle of reincarnation which one must undergo life after life. Therefore, taking this concept and in place of the birth and death cycle, shouldn’t we view birth with sadness and death with happiness? For birth in this context is the start of another cycle while death is the end of one cycle and is closer to eternal liberation. Of course this is through my own perspective and I’m influenced by my own belief of Tibetan Buddhism.

E

WE LIVE TO DIE: BIRTH—DEATH CYCLE

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WE LIVE TO DIE: DYING TRADES (OVERVIEW)

(overview)

DyingTrades

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DyingTrades Definitely I am happy to hear the positive progression of my own

country. However, sometimes when I stop to think as a youth of my age, are we moving a little tad too fast?

By growing and moving so fast, many cultural-tied trades are slowly dying and tbecoming extinct and something you will eventually see in the museum. The reason why there are an increasing amount of dying trades in Singapore is due to the fact that typically, these dying trades are held by the older generation and now that fewer younger generation is willingly to take up these jobs due to different attraction and wider choices, there is no possible way of passing the essence and expertise of those dying trades to the new generation in time.

The younger generation I am in right now seek jobs with monetary satisfaction and most importantly, a job that is not bounded with many cultural procedures. Not many youngsters these days are willingly to take up a craftsmanship job and start off from the lowest and learning the most basic while earning minimum wages. The ladder to scale to the peak in crafting trades is hard but not entirely unachievable. However, the time to reach to a master level requires more than just patience and dedication but also talent and passion to sustain this age-old skill.

Craftsmanship trade is often mentioned in dying trades for a simple reason – To reach and fully gain control over a craft and the skills involved take more than just a month or two to fully grasp it. It requires years after years of training and experiences. These do not come easily if there are not many people teaching in the industry to start out with. There are no allocated institutions where you can simply sign up to learn these specialised skills. Often these trades are handed down generation by generation.

In my opinion, dying trade definitely refers to more than just craftsmanship jobs. They reach out to jobs such as wet market vendors, butchers, fisherman even to kopitiam (coffee shop) vendors or even florists and garang guni (Scrap collector) man. These dying trades refer to the lack of younger generations to take over and sustaining that particular trade.

Singapore, this little red dot on the world is the country that I was born, raised and grew up in. We are also one of the fastest growing country in the world!

WE LIVE TO DIE:

DON’TASK SO MUCH!DON’TASK SO MUCH!DON’TASK SO MUCH!DON’TASK SO MUCH!DON’TASK SO MUCH!DON’TASK SO MUCH!

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Don’t ask so much!” – Probably that one sentence that you get too often for asking your parents about a particular trade that is shunned by almost everyone. Yes, they are the tabooed trade dealing with the dead. Particularly in the Chinese community, being in the funeral trades is nothing glorious and is often a very pai seh (disgraceful) job to mention about. In Singapore, where 74.1% of the population IS Chinese, the cultural stigma that comes with these jobs is unavoidable.

The reason why death trade is so undesirable for most Singaporean Chinese is because this trade is affiliated to the departed and people who are gone. Singaporean Chinese often hold the deceased with the greatest longing and ache for he/she will no longer be with them.

This stigma can be attributed to firstly, the psychological affiliation of the departed and how one would not wish to be reminded of the living’s yearn for the dead. Secondly, this stigma is not easily rooted out as Chinese all over the world including Singaporean Chinese has a long tradition and customs that deals with death as well. Chinese see death as impure and a fear of the dead becoming hostile if the dead does not receive constant care and concern from the living.

These underlying factors made many Chinese youth hesitant or have never even considered about entering this trade. In the Singapore Chinese death industry, there are more jobs available instead of just the few jobs that are more commonly known to the public. Many other funeral job prospects include funeral, burials, and crematory, mourning practices and rites for the ancestors. These are pre-death and there are also post-death trades. Singaporean Chinese death trade consist a few of the following: Funeral director also known as undertaker, incense paper maker, incense paper retailer, embalmer, make-up artist, priests, coffin-maker, coffin retailers, monks, ancestral hall personnel, pall bearers and so on.

Many of these jobs that are craft-based trades such the coffin-makers and incense paper makers and these trades are slowing dying off. This is due to the lack of younger generation who are willingly to take up such craft based jobs. Not only does making incense paper or coffin is time consuming, it requires a specify skill and dedication.

Also, this industry has very irregular working hours, as a person can be dead at any hour. Many people are indecisive on whether they would be able to commit fully to this job as full-time.

Many youth these days seek material satisfaction instead of actual job gratification. Death trade industry may not be the easiest to be in, but the satisfaction of being able to fulfil one’s last wishes is beyond any materialistic gain.

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“

Background of Chinese Death Trades IN SINGAPORE

WE LIVE TO DIE:

The demographic of Singapore Chinese’s religion as of 2010 is:

Background of Chinese Death custoMS In singapore

OT

HE

R R

EL

IGIO

N

ISL

AM

NO

RE

LIG

ION

CH

RIS

TIA

NIT

Y

TA

OIS

M/

CH

INE

SE

FO

LK

RE

LIG

ION

BU

DD

HIS

M

43% 14.4% 20.1% 21.8% 0.3% 0.4%

WE LIVE TO DIE: BACKGROUND OF CHINESE DEATH CUSTOMS IN SINGAPORE

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The majority of Chinese in Singapore still declare themselves to be of Buddhist or Taoism/Chinese Folk Religion. A person’s religion is closely intertwined with the customs and tradition that one chooses to believe. In the past, the majority of Singaporean Chinese’s belief was Taoism and Chinese Folk Religion. In the recent years, the trend shifted and younger generation chose Buddhist or No Religion.

However, as a Chinese, many of us still retained numerous southern Chinese folk religion practices such as praying to deity that is supposedly a Taoism practice. This is all because Singapore’s Chinese practices a mixture of Taoism, Confucius and Buddhist practices together without even realising. This creates a uniquely Singapore culture due to the merger of various religious tradition together as one.

Chinese death rituals in Singapore borrow the various religious practices to create our very own tradition on death customs. However, many customs are not adhered by the younger generation. We are in a state where our culture, our roots and what our ancestors’ wisdoms left for us, might be gone some day.

Being Singaporean Chinese in a highly globalised country, it is only a matter of fact that one day we might not be able to retain the previous glory and the understanding of the entire customs of our tradition. We people are exposed to the world’s culture and eventually and subconsciously; we are being influenced by some of their thinking that will totally overturn some of our very own Chinese customs.

Singaporean Chinese death rituals are strongly influenced by the Taoism/Chinese Folk Religion practices. In a Chinese death ritual, there are many practices that are supposedly to mimic the journey the dead makes in the underworld and it is only filial for the living to accompany them in that journey through a series of rituals during the funeral.

Nowadays, the older generation either took on a simpler approach to death in order to lessen the hassle for their next generation or the younger generation simply organise the death rituals upon their own interpretation of death rituals.

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WE LIVE TO DIE:

Most trades are a result of a particular custom in a religion or a culture. Trades satisfy the needs

of these religion and culture by providing services or products for

people to complete their traditions. If there were no initial demand

from the custom, there wouldn’t have been the trade to cater to

that demand. Custom or traditions often involve rituals that requires a certain type of goods that will

whole the process, or a particular person verse in that tradition.

TRADESCUSTOMS

WE LIVE TO DIE: TRADES VERSUS CUSTOMS

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Customs and trades coexist together and it is especially true for age-old

trades like Chinese funeral trades. It is not possible to be dishing out one side of the fact without mentioning the other. If one part dies out, the other will subsequently die out as

well unless there is a revival period in the future that might save it from extinction. But in the 21st century, there is no absolute retaining of the former glory of these customs or

trades. If it is persevered, these trades and customs will still be modified in

order to fit into today’s context.

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CUSTOMS

WE LIVE TO DIE: FUNERAL DIRECTOR

FUNERAL DIRECTOR

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Funeral director is usually the founder and also the boss of a funeral parlour. He/she will accept jobs and then delegate it to the different services that need to be taken for the deceased and also for the family members.

For example when a body is being delivered to the funeral parlour, the funeral director will contact the embalmer to do embalming. After the embalming is done, the undertaker will proceed to bring the body down to the void deck (where wakes are usually held) or to wake halls. Funeral director may contact monks or priest depending on the religious affiliations and to caterers and the funeral band.

These are usually organised into a package that the funeral director will present to the family members to choose. They offer expertise and advices to the livings on how to deal with death affairs. Funeral director in Singapore in addition, deals with the booking of burial/cremation, placing of obituary to storage of ashes in columbarium.

Funeral director handle the logistic aspect of the business and they often have to deal with the mourning family members request. Funeral director often goes down to the wake to facilitate with the flow of the wake. They are the coordinator to ensure this last event for the deceased will be done well.

WE LIVE TO DIE: INTERVIEW WITH A FUNERAL DIRECTOR

I decided to visit Sin Ming Drive, a stretch of red brick building that housed rows of shops that is related to the afterlife trades and services.

I went up to Hock Lin Undertaker, hoping to speak to the director of the company but unfortunately he was busy at that moment so he referred me to his best friend, Jeffery Herman Vierra, also his business partner.

Interview with a Funeral Director

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Me: Hi! What’s your name?Jeffrey: I am Jeffrey Herman Vierra, just call me Jeffery.

Me: So, what is your job title?Jeffrey: I am the director of Mount Calvary Bereavement Services.

Me: How did you get into this trade?Jeffrey: Firstly, I was a chef and after doing it for sometime, I asked myself “Why did I enter the culinary line?” I cannot exactly explain to you how I got into this trade. It is like a calling that I have to come into this trade. Well then, I set up this company, it is a linked company (with Hock Lin Undertaker) but yes, and my work place is on this side of the shop.

Me: How do you find this job?Jeffrey: Well I have been doing it for the past 20 years in this job. It is not easy, we have to always see to the needs of bereave of the family.

Me: What is the job scope for you as a funeral director?Jeffrey: When a case comes in, we need to ask them various questions to get prepared. When the body arrives, embalming takes place. We do the whole package, including sending back the embalmed body, to setting up the funeral and as well as collecting the ashes.

Me: Do you think that this trade and the job you are doing will die in the future?Jeffrey: Hmmm… no. You see, there is a lot of elderly in Singapore.

Me: What about, do you think that there will be younger generation who are willingly to take over this business in the future?Jeffrey: Well… I cannot be sure so I cannot tell you just. But you see, the job will not die because people will die right. The people who will take over us in the future, if this you are asking, we don’t know lah at this very moment.

Me: Do you think that youths these days are very ignorant about this particular trade. It may be because of influence thinking from their parents that this trade is pantang(inauspicious)?Jeffrey: Ah ya, they are very scared lah but one day they will understand when they grow older. Ya, maybe the youths but once they grow older, they will understand what is life and most of them will accept it (this trade). This is forgivable because they are young and they have not been to our stage of life yet.

Me: Do you see a trend that might indicate that there are lesser young people who are willingly to take up this trade?Jeffrey: Actually, no. There are many young people these days running their own company in this trade. There are a lot. Some are as young as 20 plus, 30 plus? Some of them are doing part-time jobs in this trade.

Me: Part-time?Jeffrey: Yeah, part-time. These kids they do marketing and when they receive cases, they refer or recommend to the various companies. This is what they do now. So you see, the trade will never die lah.

Me: Do you have any tactic or ideas to get more youth to be involve or get interested in this trade?Jeffrey: There are actually many girls and boys like you, students who come and ask and interview us about our jobs. But this really depends on individual, if you don’t have the calling for this job, you will never come. End of the day, I do hope more youngsters will come out and take up this job.

*Phone rings, Jeffrey picked up to settle logistics for a case*

WE LIVE TO DIE: INTERVIEW WITH A FUNERAL DIRECTOR

Jeffrey: Okay sorry, back. Me: I see you have many coffins on display here. Does your company manufacture coffins? Jeffrey: No, we import it from Malaysia and Australia.

Me: Would it be possible if you can tell me in details about each specify job in your company?Jeffrey: Alright, as a funeral director, I have to go down with my guys when a case takes place, a case means when someone passed away. We need to be at the location within half and hour to 45 minutes when the family calls. So when the doctor signs the cause of death in the hospital, some of them need to go down to the police post to register for the Certificate of Death. So from there we will take the body and some clothing back to our embalming workshop. I will call my embalmers to come down and do the embalming and after embalming; we will send it back to where the wake is held. It could be the parlour, church or the home.

Me: I see, what about embalming? I hardly hear about this job in Singapore!Jeffrey: When we collect back the body, I will contact my embalmer who will firstly do the embalming. (The process of embalming will be further explained) Also after the embalming is make up. Most of my embalmers are make up artist as well!

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Me: So that’s a 2-in-1 job?Jeffrey: Yes. My embalmers double up as makeup artist as well!

Me: Have you heard any interesting cases where customers request for specific makeup?Jeffrey: Yes there was. Sometime some of the customers give or buy their own makeup kit for the deceased. But this is a very rare; among 100 maybe there is only 1 or 2 who requested this. The rest simply leave it up to my embalmer/makeup artist.

Me: So in your 20 years of work in this industry, what are some of the hardest part you underwent?Jeffrey: The job that I am doing is very sensitive and must be handled with care. It is akin to a glass that is broken. No matter how you try to save it by piecing it together, the cracks are still obvious. Sometimes the family who are in bereaved might scold for no reason but we have to understand and be cool at all times.Me: Cool?Jeffrey: Yes, chill.

Me: So to conclude, at the end of the day, does this job garner you satisfaction?Jeffrey: Yes. Although sometimes my customer scold due to their grief, but after a while they will apologise and will show gratitude for the wake that were done well. As I said, this job is a calling for me and for me to do the best for the deceased is sure is satisfying!

WE LIVE TO DIE: INCENSE PAPER MAKER

Incense paper is also known as joss paper.

In Singapore, there are not many incense paper maker left. Such handicraft jobs are at the epitome of extinction due to the lack of younger people taking over these trades. Incense papermaking is an age-old skill form and is a part of Chinese’s tradition. Incense paper maker in Singapore make paper offerings for the different occasions and for the various recipients. These papers are offered to gods, ghosts and also to our ancestors. Singaporean Chinese usually buy incense paper only during the various occasion such as 清明 (Tomb Sweeping Day), 冬至 (Winter Solstice) and 忌日 (Death Anniversary) just to name a few.

The idea of burning incense paper to ancestors is to wish that they would have enough money and items in their afterlife. It is also to express our love and devotion even though they have already passed away. To burn the incense paper to the ghosts is to appease their anger and ease their sufferings. To burn the incense paper for the god is to seek blessing and assistance in times of need.

Joss paper makers continue this custom by making and providing incense paper. Interesting to note, Singaporean Chinese Buddhist

INCENSE PAPER MAKER

supposedly do not burn incense paper but due to the unique mash of Singaporean culture, the Chinese community embraces Chinese folk religion’s customs such as burning of incense paper.

Many paper masters learned their skills from family members who were already in the trade. The skill to make paper incense is known as paper pitching and it is a labour intensive skill. Incense paper makers must be knowledgeable and experienced enough to differentiate the top paper from the bottom and what it is used for. Due to the high-demand of skills needed for this trade, most Singaporean incense paper maker only do paper houses, those that begins with bamboo structure. These shops usually no longer do the highly intricate joss paper such as the different grade of paper money that is laid with a thin foil of gold or silver. These are often replaced with new technology and machinery instead of manual work.

Incense paper making in Singapore can be considered a near dying trade with very few youths willingly to take up such job that requires ultimate dexterity and patience.

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WE LIVE TO DIE: INTERVIEW WITH A INCENSE PAPER MERCHANT

Interview with anIncensepapermerchant

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While I was at Sin Ming Drive, I took a walk down and found a shop selling assorted variety of incense paper. This interview was done in mandarin but the content will be translated to English.

Me: What do you think about the prospect of this trade in the future?Mr. Neo: In Singapore this trade will definitely die off.

Me: Why do you say so?Mr. Neo: As compared to other country, Singapore is considered very restrained due to the government. You see these days; does youth even know what is gong teck (A ceremony held to salvage your ancestors)? No more… the cultural scene has changed.

Me: Why do you think it has changed?Mr. Neo: It could have been our generation that spoiled our child, making them ignorant about these cultures and customs. That is why the rest of the generations of people are so oblivious to their own roots and tradition.

Me: What do you think can counter this cultural degrading in Singapore?Mr. Neo: Let me tell you, it really depend whether you have the heart and the intention on wanting to continue this customs. By burning incense paper shows the remembrance of the long gone.

Me: What do you think cause the dying of this trade other than the loss of culture?Mr. Neo: Firstly, the rental cost is too high, secondly, this skill is easy to impart but hard to master as well.

Me: Hello! What is your name?Mr. Neo: 梁亚肥 (Mr. Neo)

Me: What type of paper is used to make incense paper?Mr. Neo: We use recycled bamboo paper. It is more environmentally friendly and the consumer like it too.

Me: What is the most odd shape item you had to import?Mr. Neo: Incense paper model of a table lamp and a dressing table. There was once someone requested for a car with functioning door and headlights!

Me: What do you think about the cross-religion mixture (Buddhism and Taoism) and how it will affect Singaporean’s incense paper culture?Mr. Neo: I think this depends on one’s filial piety. These days, youth and the younger generation have the mentality to burn anything that they think is good for the deceased. Not saying that this is a bad situation, just saying that yes, t is up to your own heart and capabilities and you should burn the items in joss paper that the deceased used to like.

Me: So will you be worried that your trade might die off in the future?Mr. Neo: Aiyah, every trade also faces this problem. It simply just depends on the individual whether you people want to continue this tradition of burning incense paper or not.

WE LIVE TO DIE: EMBALMER

EmbalmerI didn’t meet any embalmers at my tour around Sin Ming Drive. However, I gained pretty much the entire job scope of an embalmer when I was there talking to the Funeral Director.

The image of an embalmer reminds me of the ancient Egyptian mummification process. What about a Singaporean embalmer? Hmm..

n Singapore, once the funeral director receive news about the decease, he/she will contact the embalmer to come down to the embalmer shop or the embalmer work station to do the embalming for the deceased.

For the Singaporean Chinese, a wake usually last about 3-5days depending on the family members and also with other considerations (eg. age of the deceased). During this 3-5 days, it wouldn’t be nice for visitors who are trying to pay their last respect to see the body rotting. To embalm is to preserve the last beauty moment of the decease and to ensure that they look presentable when their friends and families come down to pay their final respect.

I

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(En-bahm-mer): amorticianwhotreatscorpseswithpreservatives

EmbalmerSingaporean Chinese typically opt for 2 different types of coffin to be placed in. One is the half opened coffin that reveals the upper body. The other one that is not often opted for is the closed coffin where the decease is sealed in the coffin after cleansing and dressing of the deceased. With the sealed coffin, visitors will not be able to see the deceased for the last time.

Embalming the body of the decease is crucial in this case as firstly; the living wants the deceased to look well dressed even in their last and final moment. Secondly, it is to ensure that the people who are paying their respect will have the last glimpse of the deceased. Therefore, what the embalmed body is done is to achieve those. To ensure that when the body is placed in the half-glass casket, it will appear as though the deceased is looking “asleep”.

WE LIVE TO DIE:

Do you know how embalming works?

WE LIVE TO DIE: DO YOU KNOW HOW EMBALMING WORKS?

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Bet you didn’t know that many embalmers is a make-up artist as well!

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The embalmer first undresses the body and cleanses it then they proceed to slit a cut near the collarbone to locate the main artery. This is to drain out the blood from the body. They then slit another cut above the belly button before inserting a long drainer to the heart to further extract more blood from the body.

1.

Once most blood is sucked out, the embalmer then pumps in formaldehyde (a preservative agent) and other mixture of chemicals and also some blood to ensure that when these embalming fluids enters the body, it retains the human colour.

FORMALDEHYDE

2.

For the organs, they are punctured to release the content and i t i s l ater replaced with stronger formaldehydea. Organs are soaked with formaldehyde to ensure that the organ itself does not rot.

Once every procedure for the embalming completes, the embalmer suture the body back. The whole idea of embalming is to transform the deceased as life-like as possible while being able to remain preserved throughout the wake and funeral.After washing the body for one

last time to get rid of the smell of the formaldehyde and also to wash off any remaining blood, the embalmers starts to put makeup for the deceased. Out of 100 clients, only about 1 or 2 groups of family members would request for special makeup for the deceased which might include using their own makeup kit or a specific makeup style. However, the remaining group of family members usually leave it up to the embalmer/makeup artist.

Once all the post-embalming process is done, the embalmer will put on clothes for the deceased. Depending on the religious or family needs and request, the deceased will be dressed accordingly.

3.

4.

5.

6.

ༀམཎིཧཱུྃ།པༀམཎིཧཱུྃ།པ

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ༀམཎིཧཱུྃ།པ 南无救苦观世音菩萨百千万亿佛恒河

沙数佛无量功德佛佛告阿难言此经大圣能救狱囚能救重病能救千灾百难苦若有人诵得一千遍一身离苦难诵得一万遍合家离苦难南无佛力威南无佛力护使人无恶心令人身得度回光菩萨回善菩萨阿耨大天王正殿菩萨摩邱摩邱清净比邱官事得散私事得休诸大菩萨五百罗汉救护弟子身悉皆离苦难自然观世音缨络不须解勤诵千万遍灾难自然得解脱信受奉行即说真言曰今菩今菩提陀罗尼帝尼亻去罗帝菩提萨婆诃 南无救苦观世音菩萨百千万亿佛恒河沙数佛无量功德佛佛告阿难言此经大圣能救狱囚能救重病能救千灾百难苦若有人诵得一千遍一身离苦难诵得一万遍合家离苦难南无佛力威南无佛力护使人无恶心令人身得度回光菩萨回善菩萨阿耨大天王正殿菩萨摩邱摩邱清净比邱官事得散私事得休诸大菩萨五百罗汉救护弟子身悉皆离苦难自然观世音缨络不须解勤诵千万遍灾难自然得解脱信受奉行即说真言曰今菩今菩提陀罗尼帝尼亻去罗帝菩提萨婆诃

WE LIVE TO DIE: MONKS AND PRIESTS

onks or Priest plays an important role in the ritual held during the wake for Singaporean Chinese Buddhist or Taoist decease. Normally, monks or priests are contacted by the funeral director on which of the services would be needed by the bereaved. In a normal 3-5 days wake, monks are usually called down after the body arrives at the wake venue that is normally the void deck. Most of their rituals are held at night time.

The purpose of their job is to ensure the departed’s will receive salvation and to make sure that the road of the afterlife is cleared of obstacles and it will be smooth sailing for them. Chants are also a form of remembrance and also a wish for the deceased and hope they will receive our blessing and prayers. Monks and priests are the medium in which we deliver those yearnings too.

There are monks and priests available for hire right on the spot at the crematorium for example at Bright Hill Crematorium & Columbarium. An appreciation can be shown in the form of a dull coloured ang bao (envelope containing money).

Monks/PriestM

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Monks/PriestIn Singapore, there are not many youth willingly to take up monkhood or dedicate their life to priesthood. These 2 are a form of religious studies and are very dedicated ones too. However they have very different beginnings – Priests in Taoism is a master and is the medium to connect the living to the deities they believe above and also to the departed below. Monks however, in the beginning they were not allowed to be involved in the funeral services due to monetary affiliation. In very recent years when the trend shows that more Singaporean Chinese professing to be Buddhist, so is the rise of monks at funeral services. They chant sutra in hoping to clear the bad karma of the deceased and also pray for better reincarnation.

Monks and priests may not be considered a dying trade due to the influx of foreign talent that came over from other countries, notably China and Thailand and they often purely only provide chanting during wakes while they charge lesser than local monks and priests.

WE LIVE TO DIE: PALLBEARER

Pallbearer in usually contacted down on the first day and the last day of the funeral. Firstly, they carry the coffin to the wake, normally held underneath the deceased’s block. Pallbearers will be moving the coffin from the funeral parlour or directly from the coffin-maker’s workshop to the wake where they will place the body that has finished embalming. Depending on the family and the coffin itself, there might be a closed coffin or a half-body coffin. If the family request a closed coffin, the pallbearers will be in charge of screwing the coffin close and ensure that the coffin is airtight. Usually the pallbearer will be coming down on the last day of wake where the deceased will be sent to the burial site or the crematorium. They will be a part of the last ritual held at the wake before loading up the coffin into the hearse. The reason why Singaporean Chinese requires pallbearers is because the coffin is too heavy for the family to carry on their own. Also, looking into Singaporean Chinese’s culture, we view death as unlucky and that there are an associated bad luck for the family to be in contact with the coffin.

PALL

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PALL

BEAREr

WE LIVE TO DIE:

/New Blood .

WE LIVE TO DIE: NEW BLOOD

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/

So will funeral trade in Singapore ever die in the future? My answer is yes and no.

No because it is possible to be a funeral director in Singapore provided that those interested in this business attain funeral directorship in the form of diplomas or degrees from country such as United Kingdom where they these offered courses. However in Singapore, there are no official courses or certificates to be one. So does it mean that I will never be able to make funeral services as my career? No!

In Singapore it is possible for you to take up apprenticeship with funeral directors, provided if they accept you in the first place. Even if you didn’t seek guidance under any seasoned funeral director or you did not attain any certificate, you still can open up your own company dealing with funeral services.

One example of this successful business model is a Singaporean brother, Mr. Hoo and Mr Hoo whom set up the Singapore Funeral Services (SFS). They started from scrap and learnt how to manage a funeral business on their own. They are considered one of the younger generations who stepped into this often-shunned industry. They gave life to this industry by innovating ways to promote and advertise. For one, SFS did endorsement with Channel 8 and collaborated with them to make a TV drama. They also created the advance planning for people who likes to make long-term plan and also who likes to be in control including their death.

What about embalming? Will it ever be a trade that will extinct? No. There are many medical courses in Singapore that might lead interested people into the field of embalming bodies.

There are also schools in Singapore that caters to those who wishes to attain monkhood or priesthood. True believer for Buddhist monk should not partake in funeral rituals due to the money affiliation. Even if monks were to be involved, the money received should only cover he’s daily necessary expense. In Singapore’s context, it is not possible for monks to do chants for free because of the high-cost of living. However these days, there are no guarantees for a true and pure monk that only seeks to chant for the salvation of the deceased without any materialistic gains. Priesthood on the other hand is part of the Chinese folk religion where Singapore Chinese’s funeral rituals stem out. Buddhist and Taoist style funeral are weaving in too closely in Singapore scene that it is difficult to draw a clear line.

Incense papermaking and coffin making are really 2 of the dying trades in Singapore. The shops that are left doing these trades are so few you can count on one hand. While there are still a few shops around doing handcrafted incense paper, there is probably only one coffin maker left in Singapore. This coffin maker situate at Geylang Bahru, another stretch of red-bricked walls that houses rows of funeral related shops. The reason why this trades dwindle down so rapidly is due to the fact that there are very few youths now willingly to take over highly specialised jobs like these. Yes of course incense papermaking and coffin making will continue on in the future, with the help of machineries and technology. What is eventually lost is the skill and culture of a handmade craft.

In Singapore, what will die is not the trade as they can be constantly revived with new tactics but it is the customs that will die.

Customs do not change to fit into the era; it is the people who change to fit the customs. Until one day where people no longer change for the customs, that will be the day where the custom dies.

New Blood

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WE LIVE TO DIE:

In my interview with the people involve in the various trades within the funeral industry, the conversation between me and each one of them made me realised one thing: They are really a very open-minded group of people.

What do I mean by this?

Death to the public of Singapore especially the Singaporean Chinese is a very pantan (inauspicious) topic to talk about as death is regarded as something dark and feared in the Chinese’s mindset.

To be able to push away the society’s deep stigma against this industry is true open-mindedness on the person’s part. But what actually awe to me when I asked one of the funeral director “How did you get into this industry”, he replied, “It felt like it was a calling”. He later on added that he seen many youth seeking jobs and expressing interest in this industry.

No longer were the days where death and funeral strike fear and send a chill down the spine. With a more globalised and connected world, the younger generation of us we see more and understand more. This makes us more acceptive and tolerant to more customs or traditions of other country’s people and also to our own.

The gradual unprejudiced towards this industry means more new blood entering this supposedly “dying” trade. Honestly speaking, funeral service industry will never die because everyone has to die at some point of life. What really dies away is the customs in these services trades. It is really sad to say that trade has got the ability to change and suit the current trend but customs don’t. Custom lacks the flexibility to sustain through an ever-changing era but this is what makes customs so unique to each race, religion and people. That uniqueness is also the very fatal trait that causes its own death.

After Thoughts

WE LIVE TO DIE: AFTER THOUGHTS/ ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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ACKn

oled

gmen

tsI would like to thanks Mr. Jeffrey, Mr. Neo and Mr. Gary who all took their time to answer my questions and also allowing me to take snap pictures around in their shops.

Also many thanks to the aunties and uncles who gave me valuable insights on Singapore’s Death Trade even though they were just regulars of the shops around Sin Ming Avenue.

Books that I’ve borrowed to read in order to broaden my perspective regarding Death Trades all over the world:

C. Fred Blake. Burning Money: The Material Spirit of the Chinese Lifeworld. (2011) Published by University of Hawai’i Press

Janet Lee Scott. For Gods, Ghosts and Ancestors: The Chinese Tradition of Paper Offerings. (2007) Published by Hong Kong University Press

Tong Chee-Kiong. Chinese Death Rituals in Singapore. (2004) Published by RoutledgeCurzon

Catherine Lim. Unhurried Thoughts At My Funeral. (2005) Published by Horizon Books PTE LTD

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