I had a neighbour who recently passed away. As the old man has been living alone ever since I got here, and I am the only one who ever interacts with the man, I volunteered to help in organising his funeral service as an act of goodwill. Besides, I also sympathise that he is all alone - much like me, who is also alone. Every morning, the old man would just sit on his lawn. He may come off as aloof, and snooty which is why instead of greeting him in an energized way, I just politely nod my head, and give a small smile. After all, I kind of feel as well that human interactions can be very tiring, especially in the morning.
As I organised his funeral by going to this funeral parlour called Hock Hin, I had come to know that he is Buddhist. I have very little idea on how to keep a Buddhist funeral service which is why I thanked Hock Hin for having a Buddhist funeral package. This way, they would already have a package on what the funeral might need.
It is the most helpful that this funeral parlour here in Singapore has an online obituary that allows the unfortunate event to be made public. This is very important for those who already have lost communication with each other. Since I do not know anything about the family of the old man, nor where they actually live, I already opted to have Hock Hin make an online obituary for him.
With putting up an online obituary, we hope that news will reach the old man’s friends, and relatives if he has some. It can be printed on the newspaper or uploaded online.
Even though there are still no relatives in sight for the old man, some of the neighbourhood still went, and paid their respects to the deceased. I can say that the services Hock Hin provided in helping us organize a funeral for the old man are of great quality. They are a one stop provider of Buddhist funeral services, and also other funerals like for Taoists.
They really are a package. The Buddhist funeral package already includes the embalming, and makeup services, the choice of caskets, and more. What I think the greatest help they have provided is their provision of logistics, and prayers during the funeral. As someone who only knows very little about Buddhist funerals, this has been a great help because they already know the right prayers, and proceedings.
Here are just some of the funeral services that Hock Hin was able to provide. After a day or two, the old man’s relatives, and friends rushed in the funeral as they were surprised to see the news from the newspaper. We were beyond relieved that they finally saw him before he goes. Putting up online obituaries is also a big help.
