“People should do their homework and put aside money for funerals,” said Casket Paradise Funeral Care director Peter Lee in an interview with FMT.
Lee, who has been in the business for more than 30 years, said many people made the mistake of not planning for the eventuality.
“The problem is that many people avoid the topic,” he said. “When a loved one dies, they panic. They then opt for the first available option. If the service does not meet their expectations, they get upset and regret it.”
Lee said a basic funeral package would now cost at least RM6,000. Such a package would include a simple casket, a funeral set-up, tents, tables, chairs and water for the guests and labour charges.
Ten years ago, the same package would cost about RM4,000, he said.
For Buddhist or Taoist funerals, the price could be as high as RM10,000 for a basic package. The price varies according to the number of days for mourning and the choice of dialect for the prayers to be conducted in.
“For Teochew funerals, just the cost of getting the priests to chant prayers can be more than RM3,000 per night,” said Lee.
He said basic packages would not include the provision of food, a funeral music band and a burial plot or cremation and a place in a columbarium.
“In the Klang Valley, there is hardly any land left for affordable burial plots. So many people have turned to private memorial parks because only private memorial parks have land banks now.
“Some Chinese clan associations have land, but you must be a member of the association or living in the area to be buried there.”
He said private memorial parks could charge as high as RM20,000 for a burial plot while a columbarium lot could cost RM5,000 or more.
He said those without enough money for a loved one’s funeral would often turn to various associations or the Welfare Department for help.
“Sometimes, these associations or the Welfare Department will reach out to us to help with funeral arrangements. In such cases, we will do a simple one for free.”
A spokesman for a leading funeral parlour in Kota Kinabalu told FMT that the charges for its cremation services would start from RM4,888 and its burial services from RM5,888. A spot in its columbarium would cost at least RM2,000.
Charges for burial services do not cover the burial plot, which in KK would cost at least RM3,000.
An official at My Khairat, a Muslim funeral services provider, said a Muslim funeral in the Klang Valley would cost between RM1,000 and RM1,500, depending on the location and type of hearse.
Farhana Mohd Noor, the company’s marketing manager, said the price would include a burial plot on wakaf grounds.
She said the company had a number of packages, including family packages – for burial arrangements for the entire family – and prepaid plans so that one would not need to make a lump sum payment.