https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/garden-ash-scattering-gains-popularity-but-majority-still-opt-for-niches
2023-06-30
SINGAPORE – When her father died in January, it was an easy decision for Ms Wong Sher Maine and her family to opt for scattering his ashes in the Garden of Peace, located within the Choa Chu Kang Cemetery Complex.
“My father was a gardener. He loved to garden, plant and watch things grow, so he loved the idea of going back to the earth,” the 48-year-old communications manager told The Straits Times.
On Father’s Day, Ms Wong and her family visited the Garden of Peace.
“Even though we couldn’t see his ashes any more, it was nice to know that he was there,” she said.
Singapore’s first inland ash-scattering garden in Choa Chu Kang opened in May 2021. Two years on, it has about 150 applications a month for its use – a 40 per cent increase from the time it opened, said the National Environment Agency (NEA), which developed the garden.
As at May 2023, the agency has received more than 3,000 applications for inland ash scattering services at the first of two designated facilities. The second facility, Garden of Serenity, at the Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium Complex is in development and expected to be operational in 2024.
The 9,500 sq m garden provides another option for the management of cremated human remains and was developed in response to public interest in having ash scattering made available in Singapore.
Ms Ang Jolie Mei, managing director of funeral service provider The Life Celebrant, said she has seen a large increase in requests for inland scattering since the Garden of Peace opened.
Prior to the opening, Ms Ang said that 80 per cent of her customers opted for columbarium niche and the remainder chose sea scattering. Now almost equal numbers of them choose niche, sea scattering and inland scattering.
The 43-year-old added that more elderly are also coming around to the idea of inland scattering as they feel it will ease the cost for their children.
“It is becoming more popular because it acts as a middle ground between sea burials and niches,” she said.
According to the NEA website, the fees for all government columbaria are $500 for a standard niche and $900 for a family niche. For inland scattering at the Garden of Peace, the booking fee costs $320.
The scattering of ashes at sea can cost about $200 without any ritual, and from $400 to $800 with rituals, according to undertakers The Straits Times spoke to.
There are four options for families after cremation – keep the ashes in a niche at a columbarium, keep the ashes at home, inland ash scattering and ash scattering at sea.
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Families that do not choose cremation have to opt for burial.
But land scarcity in Singapore restricts the lease of graves to 15 years, said Mr Fong Chun Cheong, 41, funeral director of Singapore Yin Feng Shui Funeral Services.
“The deceased would have to be cremated either now or in 15 years’ time, so many people would rather go through the whole funeral procedure at one go,” he said.
For those whose religion permits cremation, exhumed remains will be cremated and stored in a niche, said NEA.
In instances where burial is mandated by religion, exhumed remains will be re-buried in smaller individual plots, the agency added.
Columbarium storage is still the preferred choice for ashes after cremation, said executive director of The Association of Funeral Directors Singapore Hoo Hung Chye, who did not provide numbers.
“It really depends on how much emphasis (there) is on customs and traditions or religious requirements of families,” Mr Hoo said.
At Yin Feng Shui, 90 per cent of its clients still opt to store their ashes at a columbarium, said Mr Fong. Since the Garden of Peace opened, the demand for inland ash scattering from his clients has increased from 5 per cent to 8 per cent.
“Land scattering is still a new concept for some, but I think it will gain more popularity in the future,” he said.
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Mr Hoo, 41, said that between sea and land scattering, more people may opt for the latter as it is viewed as a more “permanent” place compared with flowing waters.
“Returning to the soil is also important as some believe that in the sea, the deceased may forever be ‘floating’ and never have eventual rest,” he added.
Mr Hoo said, based on his experience, most people who make their own funeral arrangements and opt for scattering of their ashes are “single and have no direct descendants, destitute with no family, or estranged from their family”.
Mr Winston Tay scattered his mother’s ashes in the sea according to her wishes, after she died in September 2022.
“It’s a common refrain among the elderly that they do not want to be a burden to anyone, and having a funeral takes time, effort and finances that she felt was unnecessary for us (the family) to bear,” the 45-year-old said.
Mr Tay, a content and social media manager for a leading food retailer, added that he fulfilled his mother’s wish for sea scattering eventually as she believed it would enable her to “see the world”.
However, a few weeks after Mr Tay and his family scattered the ashes at sea, he felt unsettled as it dawned on them that there was no fixed place where his mother was, and hence no place where they could visit her.
Mr Tay said: “I tried going to the beach and looking out to where approximately we had placed her ashes. But the weather was bad the day we took her remains out, and out at sea, there weren’t any landmarks, apart from the beach some distance away.
“It felt like even though I was facing the water we had left her in, she had really gone with the tide, and my mum just wasn’t there any more.”
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