Funeral service in Singapore can be a grand affair or even a solemn one. As Singaporean authorities ease restrictions for funerals, we’d like to share how to go about arranging a funeral or arranging a funeral service. At Nirvana Memorial Garden, our commitment is to provide the deceased with utmost dignity and respect as we send them off.
As Phase 3 commences, there are quite a few things to note for funerals, especially when it comes to customary Chinese death rituals and planning for a funeral during this pandemic. What happens when there is a death among your loved ones? Generally, a guide to follow would be registering the death and obtaining the death certificate, arranging the funeral with a funeral director or a funeral service, placing an obituary and lastly, cremation or burial depending on the religion. To make things simpler for you, we’ve prepared a guide to planning a funeral service, your funeral needs and how Nirvana funeral service can provide for all your requirements.
What to do when a death occurs
When a death occurs in Singapore, paperwork has to be done in order to officiate the death and start the funeral proceedings. First, a Certificate of Cause of Death (CCOD) must be obtained from and certified by a practising doctor on a house call or the hospital.
After obtaining the certificate, it is legally required for all deaths in Singapore to be registered at a neighbourhood police centre or the Citizen Services Centre, ICA Building in order to engage funeral services or a funeral director.
After the death has been officially registered, the family is free to engage a funeral director to make the funeral arrangements like embalming the body, a wake, funeral service, cremation or burial. In addition, the family can also place an obituary in memory of the deceased if they wish so. The funeral director will then make the necessary arrangements based on the family’s wishes.
Engaging a funeral service
When engaging a funeral service like Nirvana Memorial Garden, there are different funeral service packages which offer a comprehensive list of services at different price points to suit different needs. Once the funeral package is chosen, funeral arrangements will proceed and the family will be guided by an assigned funeral director to ensure all goes smoothly.
What does a funeral service package consist of
Funeral service packages generally consist of these few services:
- Embalming, handling and encoffin services
- Preparation of structures for wake services not held on Nirvana premises
- Preparation of memorial ceremony
- Coordination of funeral service and memorial ceremony
- Funeral procession service for family and the deceased
- Cremation, ceremony and retrieval of ashes
To give you a guide, Chinese funeral services or wakes can usually last for 3 to 5 days including night and the funeral service package can include:
- Transport services for the deceased to the funeral parlour
- Embalming and make-up services
- Funeral parlour-related items and services
- Prayer materials
- Type of casket and display services
- Tentage set-up at void deck services
- Casket area backdrop and other collaterals
- Altar table set-up
- Offerings and prayers for the deceased
- Religious figures table set-up
- Reception table set-up
- Photos, printing and framing services
- Floral arrangements
- Guest tables
- Refreshments
- Mobile toilets
- Transport services for family to cremation
- Hearse transport services
- Cremation/burial related services
- Private columbarium storage and maintenance services
While this list is non-exhaustive, a lot of thought has gone into preparing these packages to suit different needs. Families can customise and choose “needed” services as well as select funeral service packages of shorter durations. Nirvana service also provides funeral service for not only Buddhist and Taoist but also funeral services for free thinkers, Christians and Catholic funerals.
Nirvana’s funeral service packages offer funeral-related products and services, including caskets, urns, cremation memorialisation products, Taoist and Buddhist handcrafted paper models, flowers, catering services, photography and other ancillary services. In addition, we also provide funeral services at our funeral homes, third-party owned funeral homes, churches and homes of the deceased’s family. Our funeral service packages are tailored to our customers’ requirements, according to their respective cultural and religious practices.
Sending off your loved ones with dignity and respect
For families who are concerned about the embalming process, Nirvana’s funeral services are more than just basic. Called Journey with Love, it is a signature spa treatment delivered by a team of professionally trained female embalmers and beauticians who respectfully clean and prepare the body for the family and for viewing*. This service can/will involve the family to assist in their grieving process. Through this, we want the deceased’s family to feel more at ease when it comes to sending off their departed loved ones.
*Journey with Love spa treatment is subject to the deceased’s body condition and non-embalming treatments are subject to prevailing medical directives.
Final resting place
Depending on the family’s choice, the final resting place of the deceased can be a burial plot, public or private columbarium in Singapore. In Singapore, the body of the deceased may be buried, cremated and stored at a columbarium, depending on the wishes and religion of the deceased. This can also be chosen with the funeral service package.
When it comes to funeral needs in Singapore, do not hesitate to reach out to our friendly and professional staff. We are here to assist you and to make this process as easy for you as possible. You can contact us at 6397 2272.
