Moving House....again

I was given an opportunity to witness the exhumation of 3 tombs that was once exhumed before. The original tomb was located at Telok Blangah before moving to Hokkien Huay Kuan cemetery next to Bukit Brown. In March 2021, the descendants decided to move them together to Seh Ong Charity Columbarium.

During the exhumation process of this relocated tombs, the first thing i notice was behind each tomb after the top soil was removed is a concrete slab that covered the crypt. After the concrete slab was removed, i saw a square shaped brick walled crypt compartment that held the urn jar that contains the remains of the individual buried there. In the past, the bones from the coffin was placed into the urn jar without the need for cremation. The arrow you see on the lid of the urn jar below indicates where the front should be and this is still is a very much practiced custom till today. Following current NEA rules, the bones are then bag into a plastic bag and sent for cremation before placing into another smaller urn which is then placed in the niche of its new "home".