Another controversy over burial sites

What say you on the issue below?

EVEN before the dust has settled on the proposed Taman Kemuncak columbarium project, Ipoh folks are again jolted by what looks like an attempt to set up a memorial hall at Bukit Merah New Village.

As expected, the move to store the memorial tablets of the departed amid residents in the new village, the majority of whom are Chinese, has ruffled the feathers.

To the Chinese, it is inauspicious to live near anything that is related to the dead.

While the proposal for the columbarium was finally scrapped after failing to obtain the necessary approvals from the Ipoh City Council, the memorial hall project is expected to draw rounds of heated argument between the villagers and developer involved.

Protest: File photo of residents gathering a short distance from the site of the proposed columbarium (beyond the green gate) in Taman Kemuncak on Aug 21.

As it is, the villagers have already collected 85 signatures opposing the memorial hall, which is to be housed in a bungalow lot still under construction. The signatures were submitted to the council in August.

And despite the signature campaign, which boiled over into a full-fledged protest in front of the work site last Sunday, construction on the building, which appears to be nearing completion, remains in full swing.

A check with the Land Office shows that the status of the land remains unchanged as “residential”.

Could it be that the developer is trying to pressure the authorities into granting the approval by showing them a completed building later on?

If this is really the case, I urge the authorities not to bow to pressure from the developer.

Procedure wise, shouldn’t the developer ensure he has approval for all aspects of the project, from construction to building usage, before starting work on the memorial hall?

The authorities should go by the book and do what is right.

That said, I think it is high time that the state government alienate a specific site as the final resting place for the dead to avoid a constant recurrence of such controversies.

I am sure the authorities can do away with the constant protests from residents whenever such projects sprout in their areas.

It is a public-relations practitioner’s nightmare having to handle such issues whenever they crop up.

As with how burial grounds are administered by clans, I feel that sites for columbariums and memorial halls should also be managed the same way.

By having a centralised site, it will also be easier for the authorities to control their activities compared to the current practice of having resting places for the dead all over the place.