This Qing Ming Festival (清明节), also known as the Chinese Tomb Sweeping Day, Mr Roland Tay will be heading to sea. While most people will be visiting the graves of their deceased loved ones, Mr Tay will instead be performing prayers for over 200 deceased who have nobody to remember them.
The 70-year-old funeral director of Direct Funeral Services is well known for conducting pro-bono funerals for the deceased that are without family. He conducted the pro-bono funeral of Huang Na in 2004, after the eight-year-old girl was the victim of a brutal murder case.
Mr Tay will then collect the identity cards of these pro-bono cases, that have a hole punched in them to signify that the owner of the card is deceased. “For most of them, I’ll just be the informer to do the paperwork for them,” he said.
He’s collected over 200 identity cards thus far and helped scatter their ashes into the ocean. Every Qing Ming Festival, he will go through his collection of identity cards and say a short prayer for each of them in memory.
The business of undertaking
He has been a funeral director for over 40 years, and his 30-year-old daughter, Ms Jenny Tay, joined him three years ago in the business. Ms Tay made headlines last year when she took coffin-themed wedding photos with her husband, Mr Darren Cheng.
She described being an undertaker as “an events planner for funerals.”
They’ll be contacted when a loved one passes away, and arrive within an hour to assist in taking care of the paperwork involving the cause of death. After that, arrangements will be made for the wake, cremation, and embalming, including conducting the funeral itself.
“The funeral industry is a mix of larger companies and freelancers,” said Ms Tay, estimating the number of players in the undertaker industry at around 50. “But we strongly advise the public to look for proper funeral directors, who tend to be more reliable and established.”
The Association of Funeral Directors Singapore
Mr Tay is the President of The Association of Funeral Directors in Singapore, and Ms Tay sits on the executive board as Assistant Secretary.
It’s recognised by the NEA as the official representative of the funeral industry in Singapore, and strives to upkeep standards of funeral directors in our country.
“In Taiwan, there is certification for funeral directors,” said Mr Tay. “But there is no certification in Singapore.”
“There are less than 10 chief examiners in Taiwan, who give out the certifications for funeral directors.”
Direct Funeral Services
Ms Tay joined her father three years ago in Direct Funeral Services, having left a job in events and advertising.
“We used to have four to five staff in their 50s to 60s. But now, after three years, we’ve grown to 35 to 40 people who are mostly in their 20s to 30s,” she said. They have 10 employees who are degree-holders, reflecting the changing mindset of the funeral industry in Singapore.
The evolution of the funeral industry
“The image of this profession has slowly evolved,” said Ms Tay, explaining that this was the reason for the company’s growth in the past three years. “More young people are taking this up.”
“Back in those days, the funeral industry was less well-publicised, and frequently seen as taboo. As people become more open now, there are also more features on this industry to debunk such taboos.
Last time, people thought that you need to be rough and dirty to be an undertaker. But actually you need logistics planning, gentleness, and many other qualities to be a funeral director.”
Ms Tay has implemented several measures to make it more enticing for younger employees to join them. “There’s a proper career progression from ops staff to case manager. Funeral companies have to be able to create a proper career progression, then it will elevate this image of this profession as a whole.
We’re quite strict on service standards, with ISO and CaseTrust certification. We also did a revamp of the image of the company, to have suits and vests as a ‘uniform.'”
Her efforts have paid off, with at five to six applicants a month coming in for interviews. “A lot of them are graduates. They want to come in and join, for the passion, to be able to play their part. It gives them purpose and meaning in life, and they don’t want to work in a corporate environment anymore.”
But she added that there’s still a lot more room to grow, since the awareness about the funeral line only kicked in a few years ago.
Common urban legends debunked
We took this chance to ask the father-daughter duo about some widely circulated funeral myths about professional mourners and the rise in death rates during the Chinese Seventh Month.
“In the olden days, maybe 30 years back they had, but they’ve passed away,” said Mr Tay of professional mourners in Singapore. “This new generation, nobody will participate in [professional mourning]. But China still has it.”
About the death rate in Singapore, Mr Tay confirmed there was no increase or decrease during the Chinese Seventh Month. They see about 80 to 100 cases a month, and it’s no different during that period.
Reality show “Death is Our Business”
They’re so well known in the funeral industry that they will be featured on an upcoming Channel 5 reality show, “Death is Our Business.”
The production crew followed them for a three month period, with a production team on standby to accompany them whenever they headed out on a case.
“For us, we’re really happy that there’s this programme on air that will help spread awareness about the funeral industry,” said Mr Tay.
The reality show faced a gruelling production schedule, as well as a need for sensitivity regarding each case. Only families that gave their approval were featured on the reality show.
Helping families brings satisfaction
“At the end of the day, when the family really appreciates what you do, when you have completed the final send off for them, the appreciation really touches your heart,” said Ms Tay.
Mr Tay related the story of a funeral he had to perform for a woman who committed suicide during the Chinese New Year period. He bought tickets for her son and his grandmother to return to Shanghai. “He still leaves voice messages for me.”
“It’s a lot of appreciation and gratitude.”
“Death is Our Business” premieres 2 April, 10.00 pm (Saturday) on Mediacorp Channel 5. It will air every Saturday at 10.00 pm until 7 May.
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