By Stories by BAVANI M and VINCENT TAN
bavanim@thestar.com.my | Jan 17, 2012
Running out of space at Cheras Christian cemetery
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In need of care: Poor record-keeping and maintenance are blamed for the declining condition of the Cheras cemetery.
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The lack of burial space in Kuala Lumpur has become a matter of serious concern as the government-owned cemeteries are almost full.
The situation is particularly grave at the 100-year-old Christian cemetary in Cheras where all 22,000 plots have been taken up.
Additional plots allocated in area A and B in the Cheras cemetery, which was opened 1996, have since been filled up.
The practice of pre-booking of plots has ceased since the year 2000.
If nothing is done to address the situation, government-run cemeteries, including the Muslim ones, are expected to be exhausted within the next 10 years.
The lack of burial space has also resulted in illegal selling as well as the mushrooming of illegal plots which is said to be rampant at the Christian cemetery in Cheras.
According to a source, the practice of undertakers pre-booking plots and re-selling it has been going on for many years.
There have been cases of families paying as much as RM9,000 to undertakers who act as middlemen to City Hall workers at the cemetery to help secure the burial plots.
Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) executive secretary Tan Kok Beng said news of grave scams and illegal burial plots springing up overnight was not new and had been going on for years.
Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM) secretary-general Reverand Herman Shastri said that he, too, had heard of such complaints and had reported to City Hall on many occasions over the past 10 years but nothing had been done to address the matter.
Both Tan and Herman agree that the government must either identify more land for burial or find innovative burial methods to solve the problem.
“Since land is scarce, the practice of reserving burial plots must stop and re-burial should be allowed every five to 10 years,’’ said Herman, whose parents were burried in the same plot at the Cheras cemetery.
Another solution Tan said is for the government to build a columbarium at the Cheras cemetery.
He said this would eliminate the pressure of choosing a burial site, casket, vault and monuments and save cost.
Wong Seng Choong, who runs Public Care Funeral Services Sdn Bhd, said the government must open up more land to meet the shortage of burial space otherwise people had no choice but to buy plots from privately-owned entities.
The price at private cemeteries can range from tens of thousands of ringgit to more than RM100,000,” he added.
“A cheaper option is cremation as it will only cost between RM1,000 and RM2,000.
“Usually it is the burial plot that costs the most as other funeral arrangements usually cost less than RM10,000.
“In these uncertain economic times, more people are opting for cremation,” Wong added.
Paramasarathy Naidu, who is in the funeral services business, said cremation was economical, simple and environment-friendly.
“It is the best option since land is scarce in the city,’’ he said.
There are about 1.6 million people in Kuala Lumpur, with a Christian population of 97,241.
Christians now go to Petaling Jaya to bury their loved ones and in Putrajaya, you have to be a resident in the area in oder to be burried there.
CCM and CFM have had talks with the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik and his deputy, Datuk M. Saravanan, on matters pertaining to burial plots and cemetery management.
Apart from identifying land for cemeteries in Bukit Jalil and Semenyih, there has been no indication of resolving the crisis.
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