The Singaporean Death Guide #3 - Arranging A Funeral

You can engage a funeral director to help you with the funeral. Depending on your religion, the funeral ceremonial rites and costs may vary widely. A funeral can be as simple or as elaborate in accordance with the wishes of the deceased or family. The following are some points to consider:

• Funeral Wake

Decide the location and the duration of the funeral wake e.g. at the funeral parlour, void deck or house.

If you are holding the wake at the viod deck, you will need to get a permit from your Town Council. If you are holding the wake in your landed property and need to use part of the road outside your house, you will need to get a permit from the Land Transport Authority. Your Funeral Director will assist you on this.

Please not that if the funeral wake extends more than 7 days after death, prior written permission will have to be sought from the National Environment Agency.

Please write to:
National Environment Agency
Environment Health Department
40 Scotts Road, Environment Building,
#21-00 Singapore 228231

• Burial/Cremation
  

Your funeral director can help you with the booking of the date and time for cremation or burial. Otherwise, you can do the bookings through the phone or at the relevant booking office:

Burial:

Cremation:

The NRIC of the applicant and next-of-kin, as well as the original
Death Certificate, which contains the Permit to Bury/Cremate is needed
when booking for burial or cremation.

Please not that of the
deceased is to be cremated, any valuables placed in the coffin will not
be recoverable after the high heat of cremation.

• Placing An Obituary

If you wish to place an obituary, please contact the local newspapers

• Storage of Ashes/ Scattering The Ashes At Sea

The ashes of the deceased can be stored at home or in a columbarium. Niches are available at the three government-managed columbaria and other private columbaria:

You will need to bring your NRIC and the Death Certificate to book for a niche.

Ashes may also be scattered at sea. The scattering of small amounts of ashes can be carried out at the designated site located about 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) south of Pulau Semakau. The scattering of ashes can be conducted daily, from 7:00am to 7:00pm. For further information on scattering of ashes, please call the Marine Safety Control Centre at telephone number: 6325-2488.

end.