Buddhist Funeral Services · Singapore · Since 1989
Buddhist funeral services in Singapore, arranged the way your family wants.
If your loved one has just passed away, I am really sorry for your loss. Tell me where your loved one is and what you have in mind, and I will be with you within as soon as possible.
JeremyI answer this phone myself, at any hour. This is what I do, and I have done it since 1989.
If it has just happened
What to do when someone passes away in Singapore
If your loved one has just passed, this is where to start. There are only three things to do immediately, and if you have any questions, please call me.
If you’re at home
- If a doctor had been treating your loved one for a known illness, call that doctor to certify the death. A home doctor can come anytime.
- If there was no doctor, or it happened suddenly, call 999. That’s normal. It doesn’t mean anyone suspects anything.
- Call me. I will come to you, and take care of things from there.
If you’re at the hospital
- The ward or mortuary will ask you to appoint a funeral director. Give them my name and number, or put me on the phone with them.
- Give the ward your loved one’s NRIC so the doctor can certify the death. There’s nothing else you need to sign yet.
- Call me. I will speak to the mortuary for you and arrange collection.
If you’re at a nursing home
- The home’s doctor can certify the death there. Ask the staff to arrange it.
- Have your loved one’s NRIC ready for the doctor, and keep the Certificate of Cause of Death once it’s issued.
- Call me. You don’t have to sign or choose anything until you have spoken to me.
If you’re not sure which of these fits, that’s alright. Give me a call and we can work out what comes next together. I will stay with you on the line while you do it.
Call 8133 0959
Assisted chanting during the hours after death.
The first eight hours
Buddhist chanting in the first 8 hours after death
Please don’t move your loved one yet. If your family follows Pure Land practice, your loved one can still hear you for about eight hours after the breathing stops.
- Please don’t lift or wash your loved one during that time, and leave the clothes as they are.
- If you can, try not to weep over the body. I know that’s a hard thing to ask.
- Chant “Amitabha Buddha” out loud instead, and take turns among your family members while waiting for me to arrive.
This part is for the family to do. I will quietly get everything else ready while you sit with your loved one.
Two exceptions. If your loved one passed away in hospital, the mortuary has its own process to follow. If the police are involved, your loved one goes for the autopsy first. Neither of those can be delayed.
Traditions do differ, and Theravada practice isn’t quite the same as Pure Land. If your family already has monks you turn to, please let me know so that I can coordinate with them if possible. If you don’t have any monks, call me and I can arrange monks for you for the funeral process.
These first few hours are extremely important. Call me now and I will arrange monks for the funeral, and stay on the line with you until you understand.
Call about chantersAfter you call
What I will do in the first four hours after you call
In the first four hours, none of this is yours to worry about. Most of what happens next is paperwork and logistics, and that part is mine. I will only come to you for the things that are yours to decide, and I will explain each one before I ask.
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I am with you within the hour
Anywhere in Singapore, any hour. I bring the paperwork to you.
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I will see the certification through
ICA certifies online. I will show you how to download the certificate.
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I bring your loved one into our care
My team collects your loved one and sees to the bathing and dressing.
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I will settle the venue and the permit
Void deck permit or parlour hall, I apply for it myself.
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I will book the NEA cremation slot
Mandai fills up. I will recommend a slot for your family to pick the date.
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The hall will be ready before your relatives arrive
Altar, tentage, tables, chairs and fans, standing within a few hours.
That leaves four decisions that are genuinely yours to make, and most families have never had to make them before. I will take you through them one at a time.
A question most families ask themselves
Buddhist or Taoist funeral: what’s the difference?
Not sure which your loved one was? Most families aren’t.
Perhaps your loved one chanted Amitabha Buddha, while the family has always burned the paper house and engaged a Taoist priest. Both can be true at once, and in Singapore they often are.
Take a look at both, then tell me which one sounds more like your loved one's scenario. A minute on the phone usually settles it.
Monks or nuns, sutras, and a quiet hall
- Monks or nuns in saffron or grey chant sutras at set times
- The altar carries Amitabha, Guan Yin or Ksitigarbha
- Usually vegetarian food is offered; no meat at the altar
- The family chants along with the monks
- Rites continue for 49 days after the cremation
Priests, paper offerings, and the gongs
- A Taoist priest leads the rites, often in red and black
- Paper offerings are burned: the house, the car, the servants
- The crossing-the-bridge rite on the final night
- The gong-and-drum band leads the procession out
- Meat and wine may be offered at the altar
Most families want some of both. The monks chanting, and the paper house burned anyway. I have set the two up side by side for thirty years, and I never tell a family that what they keep is wrong. Tell me what your loved one would have wanted, and I will proceed with it.
This is often easier to talk through than to read about. If you like, tell me a little about what your loved one used to do at home, and we can work it out together.
Talk it through with me
A three-day wake. Long enough for everyone who needs to come.
Three, five or seven
How many days should a Buddhist wake last?
Three, five or seven. It’s your family’s call, and two things usually settle it.
- Who’s still travelling. If someone important is arriving in Singapore on Thursday, we will ensure that is part of the plan.
- The Mandai slot. It fills up quickly, so sometimes some minor adjustments is necessary. I will tell you if it has been filled.
If your family wants a monk to pick an auspicious day for the cremation, I will arrange that too.
And if you rather not hold a wake at all, that’s a proper option too. I arrange Buddhist direct cremations as well.
Three days is what most Buddhist families in Singapore do now, and it makes for a full and proper wake. Each extra day costs about $300, and a longer wake is tiring for everyone. Choose what suits your family, and I will make it work.
Mandai slots get taken up quickly, so the dates open now may not be open tomorrow. Call and I will look up what’s still available with you. Nothing is booked until you say so.
Check dates with meWhere we hold it
HDB void deck or funeral parlour wake in Singapore
Wherever suits your family. Both are proper, and neither is the better choice. It comes down to what works for the people who will be coming.
Downstairs from the flat, where your loved one lived
- Costs almost nothing to use. The town council fee is nominal
- The neighbours can come down to pay their respects
- Open air, so hot afternoons and heavy rain are worth thinking about
- I apply for the permit myself, so you never have to speak to the town council
Air-conditioned, indoors, private
- Hall rental is charged on top, roughly $500 to $1,800 a day
- Kinder on elderly relatives who can’t sit in the heat
- Rain stops being a problem
- I work with every parlour in Singapore, so I will arrange you wherever you would like on your dates subjected to availability.
If you like, I can look into both for you. Let me know your block and roughly when, and I will find out what’s free at your void deck and which parlours have space, so you don’t have to call around yourself.
Call and I will check for you
Chanting at the encoffining.
Arranging the monks
Buddhist monks for funeral chanting in Singapore
Monks who chant in whatever dialect your family prays in. Most families who call me don’t have monks of their own, and I will take care of the arrangements for you.
- Monks or nuns in Mandarin, Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese or English
- Chanting at the encoffining, the final night and the funeral morning
- If an elder in your family only ever followed along in Hokkien, I will get you Hokkien
- If your family already has monks, give me their number and I will fit our timings around theirs
If you prefer nuns, or you’re not sure which dialect your family would want, just say and we will work it out together.
From the first night to the forty-ninth day
Buddhist funeral procedure, stage by stage
These photographs are from funerals I ran myself, taken as they happened.
Buddhist funeral wake setup
Amitabha in the centre, Guan Yin or Ksitigarbha at either side, and the character for Buddha above, with the altar in front. If your family would like it arranged differently, say so and I will change it.
- The photograph enlarged and framed, with the flowers, fruit and offerings
- Tentage, tables, 100 chairs, lighting, fans and a mobile toilet
It’s all in place before your first relatives arrive, so nobody walks into an empty space.
The encoffining ceremony
This is when your loved one is washed, dressed and laid in the casket, with a monk chanting throughout.
- My team does the washing, the dressing, the hair and the makeup, gently and unhurried
- Then the lotus blanket, the sutra blanket and the pearl are placed
- Your family is welcome to be present, or to wait outside. Either is right
- If you like to help with the dressing yourselves, as some families do, tell me and I will arrange it
All I will need from you is a set of clothes, something your loved one liked wearing. It doesn’t have to be formal, and any time before the encoffining is fine. If there’s a photograph or a small thing you like placed inside, bring that too.
What happens each night of the wake
The chanting is in the evening, when most people can get there after work.
- Guests light a joss stick, bow three times, sign the book, sit a while
- Someone from the family stays near the altar to receive them. If you can take it in shifts, nobody has to stand all night
- White, black or dark plain colours. No red and no bright patterns
- My team runs the hall, the tea and the offerings, so your family can sit down
If a guest turns up in the wrong colour, don’t worry about it. And if your family keeps the nights differently, tell me how and we will do it your way.
The funeral procession and final rites
There’s a final round of chanting, then the casket is closed, and we set off together.
- Chanting first thing in the morning, before the heat sets in
- Then the casket is closed. I will ask the family to step back and turn away for that part, as is customary
- Hearse, the gong-and-drum band if you want one, and an air-conditioned bus for everyone else
You won’t have to figure out where to stand. I will go round quietly and let each person know where to be and when to move.
Cremation at Mandai and collecting the ashes
There’s a last chanting at the crematorium, then the committal. The ashes are ready a day or two after.
- A towel and a coin for each guest, and the cleansing before anyone goes home
- I will drive you back for the ashes, so you’re not making that trip on your own
- They go into a government niche, a private columbarium, or out to sea
I will go through what each of those costs with you first, and whichever your family chooses is the right one.
The 49 days after a Buddhist funeral
In Buddhist practice this is the part that matters most, and it’s rarely mentioned to families beforehand.
- The seventh-day rites, chanting every seventh day, seven times, out to the 49th
- The hundredth-day rite
- The first anniversary rite
- Placing the ancestral tablet
Most packages in Singapore stop at the crematorium. Families often only learn weeks afterwards that there are seven more sessions to arrange. The figures are in the next section, so you see them now rather than later. I will remind you as each date comes round.
For the people coming
What your guests will need to know
Pass this on if it helps. It saves your family explaining it over and over.
- Dress in white, black or dark plain colours. No red, and no bright patterns
- At the altar, light a joss stick, bow three times, then sign the condolence book
- The white packet is never expected. Colleagues and neighbours who do give commonly give $30 to $50, avoiding amounts ending in 8
- Children are welcome. Some families keep the custom that expectant mothers stay away, and that is the family’s own choice
If a guest arrives in the wrong colour, nobody minds at all.
Our work
Buddhist funeral setups we have arranged
Void decks and parlours, all over the island. If you see something here you like, or something you rather avoid, tell me.
Who you will be dealing with
You will deal with me, from your first call to the last day
Me, from the moment you ring to the forty-ninth day.
- I take the call, I come to you, and I run the funeral morning myself
- You won’t be handed to a coordinator you have never met halfway through
- You will have my handphone number from the start, and you keep it afterwards
Nothing is due before the wake. You will have a written itemised quotation before anything is confirmed, with third-party costs shown separately at cost. We settle the bill after the funeral, and no family of mine has ever been asked for money at the door.
If plans change once relatives start arriving, tell me early and I will tell you honestly what’s still possible.
Through every day of the wake
You are never left to run the wake yourselves
My team is on site each day, so your family can sit down.
- They keep the altar, the offerings and the joss going
- They receive the wreaths, manage the tea and look after the hall
- They will guide guests who don’t know the customs, so your family doesn’t have to
Your only job during those days is to receive the people who come.
If something goes wrong
Rain, or anything else, is mine to deal with
It isn’t something your family should be thinking about.
- The block above already shelters a void deck, and my tentage has side sheets that come down to block the rain
- If a monk is unavailable, there are others I can call and arrange
- The vehicles and the pallbearers are my own team, not outsourced outside
In thirty years I have handled every funeral properly and efficiently.
Who I am
I am a Buddhist funeral director in Singapore since 1989
I am Jeremy, the funeral director at Endearing Funeral Services. Our name in Chinese means one heart, and I chose it for a reason.
I have run wakes at void decks and at parlours all over the island since 1989. Some had three hundred guests. Plenty had a dozen.
Most families I meet have never arranged a funeral before. My job is to walk you through it in order, keep walking with you until it’s done, and do it the way you want it done rather than the way I am used to.
Whatever your family decides, my work is to see it carried out properly.
The number on this page is my handphone. It doesn’t go to an office or a call centre. I answer it at three in the morning.
Cost
Buddhist funeral cost in Singapore
There isn’t a standard funeral, so there isn’t a standard price. It comes down to what your family needs. Whatever you’re quoted is nett, so it’s what you pay.
Most families spend between $4,000 and $6,500, all in.
Where yours sits depends entirely on what your family needs, and you decide every one of these.
It depends on what your family needs
- How many days you would like the wake to run
- Void deck or parlour, since a parlour hall is charged per day on top
- The casket, if you like something other than the standard one
- Catering, which comes down to how many guests you’re expecting
- Where the ashes go afterwards
If you tell me what your family has in mind, I can give you your own figure rather than a range.
Included as standard, whatever you choose
- Collection and transfer, any hour, anywhere in Singapore
- Guidance through the death certification and permits
- Embalming, bathing, dressing and makeup
- Half-glass casket with lotus carving
- Town council permit and void deck application
- Full Buddhist altar, backdrop and decoration
- Tentage, 100 chairs, tables, lighting and fans
- Mobile toilet at void deck wakes
- Monk chanting at the encoffining, the final night and the funeral day
- Vegetarian offerings, joss and praying items
- Enlarged framed photograph and 6 passport photos
- Wreath, altar flowers and table arrangements
- Condolence book and mourning attire
- Lotus blanket, sutra blanket and pearl
- Glass hearse and 45-seater air-conditioned bus
- NEA cremation slot booking and the Mandai fee
- Pallbearers and full day-of coordination
- Towels and coins for guests, and the cleansing
- Ash collection, with me driving you there
- My handphone number, answered 24 hours, for as long as you need it
Buddhist direct cremation in Singapore
Buddhist direct cremation, $1,788 all inNo wake. Chanting and cremation only. One price, nothing added.Some families don’t hold a wake. Perhaps your loved one asked for it that way, or the family is small, or everyone lives overseas. This is a proper Buddhist funeral, and I will treat it as one.
- Collection and transfer, any hour, anywhere in Singapore
- Guidance through the death certification and permits
- Bathing, dressing and a simple casket
- A monk chanting before the cremation
- Cremation slot booking and the Mandai fee
- Ash collection, with me driving you there
Families choose this for all sorts of reasons, and you won’t need to explain yours to me. Call and I will talk you through what it involves.
A range is the most honest thing I can put on a page, because every family’s is different. If you like to know yours, tell me roughly what you have in mind and we can work it out together on the phone. There’s no quotation to wait for, and you’re welcome to call just to ask.
Ask me for your figureNo surprises
Funeral costs not included in the package
Most families add two or three things from this list, and the rest never come up. It's better that you can see what are the costs involved when someone passed away.
These go to the government or the doctor
These are some of the standard cost in Singapore.
What most families do add
Usually just food for the guests. The rest depends on how long you run the wake.
Only if your family wants them
None of this is expected of you. I won’t raise any of it unless you ask me to.
Taken together, most families end up somewhere between $4,000 and $6,500 all in, catering and the niche included.
Nobody in my company works on commission. If the plain casket and three days is right for your family, I will say so, and I won’t raise it again.
If you like to know what it will come to, just ask. We can go through this list together and I will tell you which parts apply to your family, so nothing on the invoice comes as a surprise.
Call for an itemised quoteCall me at any hour
Tell me where your loved one is, and I will be with you within the hour. From that moment the paperwork, the permit, the monks and the hall are mine to carry, and you deal with me alone, from your first call through to the forty-ninth day.
You don’t need to have decided anything before you ring.
8133 0959I answer it myself, 24 hours a day.