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  Straits Times 24 Oct 07
10,000 Muslim graves to be exhumed, relocated
Third round of exhumations to make room for space-saving crypts will start in November next year at Choa Chu Kang
By Liaw Wy-Cin

Today Online 8 May 07
New burial system neater, space-saving
Ansley Ng

A NEW way to bury the dead — one that saves space and presents a neater look — will be implemented in all sections of the Choa Chu Kang cemetery by the year's end.

The new burial system involves concrete beams and walls installed in graves, forming a crypt that can be reused when a body is exhumed after 15 years. Once lowered into the grave, the coffin or body will be covered with soil, before a grass-covered concrete lid is used to seal the grave. Each crypt measures 2.89m by 1.52m and is 1.8m deep.

This new method will keep the 318ha cemetery open for fresh burials up to 2130. Under the old system of soil burials, the existing land in the cemetery would have lasted only until 2046.

Graves have to be spaced 45cm apart to prevent them from sinking or shifting due to soil erosion. But the new system saves space, since graves are only 15cm apart separated by thin concrete slabs.

The new method will also make it easier for those attending burial ceremonies. Previously, people had to track through mud in rainy weather. Under the new system, the area surrounding the grave will be flat and covered with grass.

"The use of the concrete slabs is a lot neater and gives a more dignified burial process," said Mr S Satish Appoo, director of the Environmental Health Department at the National Environment Agency (NEA).

Pavilions with wheelchair-friendly paths have also been built.

Currently, 12,100 crypts — which should satisfy demand for three to seven years — have been prepared and eventually, the entire cemetery will be converted to the new burial system, which is also used in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Australia and the United Kingdom.

The NEA said burial costs would stay put at $315 per plot for religions where burial is compulsory and $940 for religions that do not mandate burial.

Under the 15-year burial policy, bodies have to be exhumed to free up space. For religions that forbid cremation, such as Judaism and Islam, the deceased will be re-interred in a crypt with seven others. Empty crypts will be left vacant for three years before they are reused.

The NEA went ahead with the new plan after consulting various religious organisations.

Mr Mohd Murat, director for Islamic development at the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, said: "The system met the guidelines specified by the Fatwa Committee in 2001 and is in line with the requirements of the Islamic burial system."

Secretary General of the Singapore Buddhist Federation, Venerable Seck Kwang Phing, said: "The land saved will not only benefit our nation and future generations of the departed one — this is also a meritorious deed done for the departed one."

Straits Times 24 Oct 07
10,000 Muslim graves to be exhumed, relocated
Third round of exhumations to make room for space-saving crypts will start in November next year at Choa Chu Kang
By Liaw Wy-Cin

SOME 10,000 Muslim graves will be exhumed in November next year in the next phase of the redevelopment of Choa Chu Kang cemetery.

These graves, in Blocks 1 and 2 and bound by Muslim Cemetery (also known as Pusara Aman) Paths 3, 4 and 8, will make room for new concrete burial crypts.

Exhumed remains will be moved to new burial grounds along Muslim Cemetery Path 26, about 2.5km west of where they are now.

The exhumation and reburial means two burial systems will be in place in Singapore's only cemetery open for burial - one for exhumed remains and another for fresh burials.

Under the exhumation and reburial system, claimed remains will be reburied in concrete crypts in groups of eight, with each set of remains wrapped in its own shroud; unclaimed remains will be put 16 to a crypt. For fresh burials, each crypt will contain only one body.

Since the new concrete burial plots came into use in May, 1,079 fresh burials - all Muslim - have taken place as of Monday.

The exercise to exhume Muslim graves is the cemetery's third under the masterplan for the new burial system. Exhumation of Chinese and Hindu graves began in 2004. The remains from them were cremated, put into urns and given to family members.

But because Islam requires burial upon death, exhumed remains of the dead have to be buried.

The exhumations will be carried out by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis), which has been appointed to do the job by the National Environment Agency, which manages the cemetery.

Families can opt to have the remains of their dead relatives in the two affected blocks buried together with those from other parts of the cemetery, if those graves are at least 15 years old.

Muis spokesman Jamari Mohtar welcomed this option, saying that families would be able to visit graves all at one spot.

The new concrete burial crypts, designed to be reusable every 15 years, are aimed at maximising land use in the 318ha cemetery.

These crypts have concrete walls and lids, and are filled up with earth during burial. With such strong walls, less space will be required between crypts as buffer, so burial plots can be packed closer together, saving space.

This round of exhumation and reburials will cost $8.5 million, all of which will be borne by the Government. Registration to claim the remains begins tomorrow and will stretch for a year.
links
Singapore exhumes the dead to make room for the living
PlanetSave website, 13 Apr 05

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