PUBLISHED ONFebruary 03, 2023 9:59 AM
Do You Belief is an AsiaOne original series where religious leaders in Singapore come together to have a candid discussion on social issues and to dispel any myths or misconceptions present in our society.
Most movies portray funerals as an event where the bereaved, dressed in black, watch the deceased being lowered into the ground.
But in reality, every religion has a myriad of funeral rites and rituals that are not often discussed.
Think invitations to the gods, decorating the body and even burning paper houses for the deceased to live in the afterlife.
To shed more light on these practices, Sengkuttuvan from Inter-Religious Organisation of the Hindu Faith and Benjamin Tan from the Taoist Federation (Singapore) get together for a sharing session in the second episode of Do You Belief.
"It's very different in our community," noted Sengkuttuvan after Benjamin talked about the funeral rites and rituals for Taoists.
Apart from differences in both their practices, the pair learned that within individual religions, like Taoism, there is further segregation based on dialect groups.
And it's not just about the rites and rituals — how does a family go about a funeral if there is bad blood between each other? And is there a way to avoid conflict?
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