New flatowners and residents of the Fernvale Lea at Sengkang West will be happy to know that they’ll be moving in early next year, but plans for a columbarium to be built right next to their homes have left them severely perplexed and all too uneasy.
The Straits Times reports that the Chinese temple — which will be built at a land parcel in Fernvale Link — will feature an integrated columbarium space, and will be used to run funeral services and other ceremonies for the decased. Not exactly what the new residents of Fernvale Lea signed up for.
Residents speaking to Straits Times have all expressed their unwelcome surprise over the news of the integrated columbarium right next to their newly built homes. They were aware that a Chinese temple would be built nearby, but had no idea that it would also double as a columbarium facility.
HDB and the Urban Redevelopment Authority have defended their plans, stating that the town map and site plan issued did include notes that places of worship may include resting places for the dead as an ancillary use. They also maintained that the space occupied by the columbarium should be out of sight from surrounding buildings.
View or no view, residents will surely still feel the slight discomfort that they’re sharing the neighbourhood with the dead. “Personally, I do not think it is mentally, spiritually or physically healthy to have a one-stop-funeral-service in the middle of a modern family estate,” writes one future resident already in an email to the Minister State for Health Dr Lam Pin Min.
Photo: Jnzl’s Public Domain Photos via Flickr
