Harmony Tee, Funeral Director and Founder

Background and how she started

Harmony's grandfather, Mr Tee Hock Chwee, founded Hock Hin Undertaker in 1963. Her father later ran the business with her uncles, and Harmony is the third generation of the family to work in it.

She did not begin in funerals. Harmony studied accountancy at the National University of Singapore and started her career as an auditor at Ernst & Young. She joined the family business in 2017 after her father's health declined and the family discussed whether to keep the business going. She has spoken publicly about taking a pay cut to make the move and giving herself a year to see whether it suited her.

She went on to found Harmony Funeral Care, which she describes as an effort to bring a modern, compassionate approach to funeral services while honouring tradition. The company still draws on the family's experience serving Singapore families since 1963.

Experience and training

Harmony learned the trade on the job: dialects, religious rites and the daily operations of arranging a wake, funeral day and cremation. She has since led funerals for families across several traditions and now trains and mentors newer members of the Harmony team.

Why an accountant went to learn embalming

Most people never see what happens behind the door marked "staff only" at a funeral parlour. In 2020, Harmony decided she wanted to.

She had already swapped a steady auditing career for the family trade. A few years in, she could arrange a wake, coordinate the monks and manage the crematorium booking. But arranging funerals was not enough for her. She wanted to understand everything about this line of work, including the part that families rarely talk about and most people are afraid to ask.

“I really wanted to understand everything about this funeral line.”Harmony Tee, on why she learned embalming in 2020

So she went and learned it herself. Many people find embalming uncomfortable to think about. Harmony's view is that families deserve someone who is not guessing. When you ask what embalming involves, why it is done, or what your loved one will look like at the wake, she can answer from first-hand experience instead of a script.

That curiosity is why she can explain each step plainly, so families know what is being done and why. She writes about the realities of the job in Echoes of Farewell. You can also see her licensed embalmer listing.

Her role at Harmony Funeral Care

Harmony leads the company and works as a funeral director. Every family is assigned a minimum of two funeral directors, and the team offers itemised quotations, written agreements and 24/7 support. Under her leadership the company has also introduced standard uniforms, memorial video montages and livestreaming of wakes.

She reviews the funeral guides and price pages on this website for accuracy. Read our transparent pricing policy for how we quote.

Books, workshops and education

Echoes of Farewell is Harmony's book on funerals in Singapore. Its subtitle is Navigating through Unseen Challenges, Unthinkable Mistakes, and Unforgettable Lessons. It draws on her work as a funeral director and covers creating meaningful farewells, navigating grief and planning ahead. It was launched on 7 December 2024, with part of the sales supporting Stigma2Strength's mental health and bereavement programmes. You can find it at Harmony Essentials.

She has also published a Grief Journal and shares funeral education online through her site Heart To Heart Talk With Harmony Tee, her weekly "Funeral Fridays" series and social media. She offers a Funeral Planning Workshop, grief coaching and a Funeral Service Career Workshop. To ask about a workshop, WhatsApp us.

Media appearances

Harmony has been interviewed about her career switch, the funeral industry and how funeral practices work in Singapore. A fuller list is on our media features page.

Guides she reviews