Managing 'face', hygiene and convenience at a Chinese funeral in Singapore

Abstract

This paper is based on the experience of the writer, then nearing completion of her PhD in social anthropology, at the funeral of her mother in Singapore. On returning to the UK she was struck by the fact that much of her experience contradicted the little that had been documented about Chinese funerals in Singapore, which suggested to her that significant change has taken place. While this writer is not claiming that Chinese funerals in the Singapore metropolis have, on the whole, changed drastically in character since the last comprehensive account (Tong, 1987), it is also unlikely that her experience was unique. The aims of the paper are two-fold. First, to highlight the emphasis on the management of 'face', the accent on convenience, and the importance of hygiene, which seem to supersede the major concern for ritual pollution in previous studies. Second, to elucidate why this is so by examining changes in the religious landscape, the nature of illness, the 'loss' of community and other aspects of modernity in fashioning a new perspective of filial piety.