History of cremation in Singapore

The history of cremation in Singapore goes back some years to the early days of her independence.

Colonial Period

In the days of British rule, Chinese grounds were increasing very rapidly, and the colonial government had little power to control burial spaces because the Commissioners did not possess sanctions of sufficient strength. [ "Tan Boon Hui and Yeoh, Brenda. S. A. “The ‘Remains of the Dead’: Spatial Politics of Nation-Building in Post-War Singapore” in "Human Ecology Review", 9(1), pp. 1-13." ] Clan associations met all the physical and social needs of the Chinese majority, and the result was the creation of segmented Chinese immigrant communities separated by kinship ties and operating independently of the state, [ "Tan Boon Hui and Yeoh, Brenda. S. A. “The ‘Remains of the Dead’: Spatial Politics of Nation-Building in Post-War Singapore” in "Human Ecology Review", 9(1), pp. 1-13." ] each conducting their own death rites and running their own cemeteries.

The local authorities were beginning to view these cemeteries as hazardous sources of disease-causing vectors such as mosquitoes, [ "Parliamentary Debates: Official Report. 20 March 1975. Singapore: Government Printing Office." ] as well as a form of land waste. There were urgent demands on space in land-scarce Singapore, in the name of national development. In the words of E. W. Barker, then-minister for law, environment, science and technology,

“The needs of Singapore’s young population must require the use of sterilised land, for the economic and social good of all citizens of Singapore” [ "Parliamentary Debates: Official Report. 7 April 1978. Singapore: Government Printing Office." ]

The 1965 Master Plan was designed to guide land-use development in Singapore. In it, cemeteries were identified as land “considered available for development” [ "Singapore Planning Department, Technical Paper No. 48. Singapore: Government Printing Office, 1967." ] and cremation was mooted as a viable option to deal with the exhumed bodies from these burial grounds, and as a way to dispose of people who pass away. To encourage the population to adopt this relatively new idea of treating the dead, the state employed the help of “funerary middlemen” who could erode the distrust of cremation because they were respected for their knowledge of death rites and disposal. [ "Yeoh, Brenda S.A. “The Body After Death: Place, Tradition and the Nation-State in Singapore” in Embodied Geographies: Spaces, Bodies and Rites of Passage, ed. Teather, E.K., pp. 240-255. London: Routledge, 1999." ] In addition, the rallying cries of national development, the common good, and the country’s future were used to encourage the populace to take up the idea of cremation and to abandon their insistence of traditional burial grounds.

In 1972, the state made it clear that it would close all cemeteries near and around the city area to “conserve land”. [ "Appendium to Presidential Address, Parliamentary Debates: Official Report. 20 July 1972. Singapore: Government Printing Office." ] State power over cemeteries was considerably strengthened by an alteration in the law allowing the public commissioner to “close cemeteries without assigning reasons for doing so”. [ "Parliamentary Debates: Official Report. 3 November 1972. Singapore: Government Printing Office." ] As an alternative means of managing the disposal of the dead, the state offered burial space at a state-owned public cemetery complex at Chua Chu Kang, although it made it clear that it considered cremation as the only viable long-term option. As various academics have pointed out, the clearance of ethnic burial grounds served more than a practical purpose, as it signified the transferring of power from clan and ethnic-based associations, which had previously ran these burial grounds, to state organisations. [ "Yeoh, Brenda and Kong, Lily, “Making Space for the Dead in the Body of the Living Nation”, in "The Politics of Landscapes in Singapore: Constructions of Nation". New York: Syracuse University Press, 2003. p.58. ]

The development and evolution of crematoria and columbaria

The earliest government crematorium, situated at Mount Vernon, began operations in 1962 with only one funeral service hall and about four cremations a week. By 1995, it had three service halls and was averaging twenty-one cremations a day, with operations beginning everyday at nine o’clock in the morning with cremations scheduled at forty-five minute intervals until about six or seven in the evening. [ "Taliford, E.J., A Guide to Mount Vernon Complex, Singapore: Environmental Health Department, Ministry of Environment, 1995." ] The site also includes a columbarium built in several phases, comprising niches arranged in numbered blocks which either feature Chinese-style green roofs, or housed within a nine-story “pagoda-style” building. There also exists a two-story “church-style” building.

Towards the end of the 1970s, the Mount Vernon complex, which was initially intended for the storage of ashes from recent deaths, could no longer cope with the scale of exhumation projects fueling the demand for columbarium niches. Another crematorium-cum-columbarium complex was built at Mandai, and this commenced operations in 1982, equipped with eight small and four medium-sized cremators and a total of 64,370 niches for the storage of cremated remains. [ "Yeoh, Brenda and Kong, Lily, “Making Space for the Dead in the Body of the Living Nation”, in The Politics of Landscapes in Singapore: Constructions of “Nation”. New York: Syracuse University Press, 2003." ] Chinese voluntary associations such as Pek San Theng were allowed to build columbaria to house the remains of those exhumed from clan-owned cemeteries, [ "Pek San Theng Special Publication. Singapore, 1998." ] and temples and churches were allowed to accommodate cremated remains.

Commentary

It has been observed that the architecture of government columbaria reflects the outlook of the Singaporean nation. The early columbaria were simple, with few aesthetic ornaments, just like early Singaporean housing flats. The later columbaria have more modern designs, with well-designed landscaped environments, and looking similar to contemporary HDB (Housing and Development Board) flats. These columbaria include the Chua Chu Kang Columbarium and the Mandai Columbarium, which was renovated and expanded in 2004 to accommodate approximately another 60,000 niches. [ [http://app.nea.gov.sg/cms/htdocs/article.asp?pid=2093#cckc “Government Managed Columbaria”, National Environment Agency] ] The designs are more elaborate, and are often reminiscent of other structures people often encounter in everyday life. Comparisons have been drawn between the architecture of these columbaria and that of schools and condominiums, [ "Lee Siong Aun, Eugene. “The Columbarium Landscape: Public Housing for the Dead in Singapore”. Diss. National University of Singapore, 2004." ] and hypotheses have been made that such are deliberate efforts to eliminate the sense of fear and dread traditionally associated with landscapes of death.

References