Dying Alone In Singapore and What This Means For You

No one wants to die alone but that’s the sad reality that a lot of people face in developed countries these days including Singapore, with people marrying later, fertility rates taking a nose dive, and rising divorce rates. More and more people are simply dying alone.

In Singapore, news articles of someone being found dead in his or her apartment is no longer uncommon and most of the time, effort will be made by the authorities to locate the deceased’s next of kin after identifying the body. Even if the surviving family member of the deceased might be estranged with the deceased, they will be encouraged to head over to the mortuary to identify, collect the deceased and settle the disposition of the body. In my line of work as a funeral director we have seen many cases where such family members will inevitably choose the most direct and cost-efficient way to dispose the body, which is a direct cremation. This however might not reflect the last wishes of the decedent especially if they subscribe to Buddhism or Taoism in Singapore.

This is why it is of utmost importance to plan a funeral in advance for yourself. I know that it sounds and perhaps feels morbid to be planning for your own death while alive. In fact, some people who are more ‘pan tang’ or in other words more superstitious would not want to even talk about anything near death, and that is understandable. The repercussions would then be your body might end up being treated in a way you do not wish to be treated after you die. If you have no beliefs in the afterlife and seriously do not care, then it is fine but if you do actually subscribe to a particular religion, best you make your wishes be known by planning in advance with a funeral home - be it us at Harmony Funeral Care or another funeral home. 

Do note that your instructions for your own funeral should not be listed in the will, contrary to popular belief because your will is usually read and executed only after the funeral has been concluded and hence would be too late. This is also why we strongly advise you to bring someone along, preferably a next of kin or if you do not have one, a really close friend who you trust so that they can inform us once you do depart from this world. The reason is simple - you do not want to risk your next of kin or friend paying for a funeral service for you when you have already paid for yourself. Do not think that preplanning for a funeral is only for singles in Singapore as we do see two groups of people in Singapore approaching us more and more for such services besides singles - (1)people diagnosed with a terminal illness like cancer and (2)parents with kids who don’t want to burden their children emotionally and financially. 

If you are like most Singaporeans and you are kiasu, you will most likely want to find out things in advance and then make the needed preparations. I challenge you to embrace and confront the inevitable fact that you will die one day. When you face this, that’s when you can focus on the needed preparations and that is when we can assist you to the best of what we can. We do have a free preplanning booklet that we can provide you with and a free consultation you can make with us to find out more about our preplanning services so that you can have full autonomy not just when you are alive but even in death. Contact us now at +65 94892424 for more details.