Grave detective
Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 7:47 pmSource: Electric New Paper, Singapore
Grave detective
This man and other elders of the Parsi community in S'pore is on a worldwide search for relatives of those buried in Choa Chu Kang
By Ng Tze Yong
June 01, 2006
RETIREE Rustom Ghadiali is hunched over in front of his computer.
Next to him lies a tattered piece of paper, a long list of scribbled names on it.
With slow strokes of the keyboard, the 65-year-old patiently sends out e-mail after e-mail.
He is looking for the people on his list. But he doesn't have much time.
Next year, when the Parsi cemetery at Choa Chu Kang is acquired by the Government, about 24 graves will have to be exhumed.
Mr Ghadiali is searching for the descendents of those buried there, many of whom are no longer in Singapore.
There are about 200 Parsis in Singapore.
Parsis, most of them traders, began arriving here from India at the beginning of the 20th century.
Traditionally, they practice sky burial, where the bodies are laid out in the open for vultures to devour. (See report right.)
But they've adapted, especially in land-scarce Singapore, where exhumation is common.
Now for the Parsis, the big question is: How to exhume?
This is going to be the third move for the cemetery.
The original one at Palmer Road was moved to Seletar in 1957. Then, in 1982, it was moved to Choa Chu Kang.
When Mr Ghadiali first received the notice from the National Environment Agency (NEA) in January last year, he was worried.
But that did not stop the former vice-president of a semi-conductor company, who is now the president of the Parsi Zoroastrian Association, from springing into action.
He gathered the elders of his community and headed down to the cemetery. There, under the hot sun, they stumbled through the long grass, going from tombstone to tombstone, to record the names of the deceased.
Armed with the list, Mr Ghadiali played detective, tracking down the descendents of the deceased, in Singapore and elsewhere.
'This is a very unusual thing that we have to do,' said Mr Ghadiali. 'We want everyone to be comfortable with it.'
Among the names in the list are a few even non-Parsi Singaporeans would recognise.
Mr Navroji Mistri, after whom the old Mistri Wing of the Singapore General Hospital was named, is buried there.
So too are shipping magnate Pesi Davar and the former President of the Leprosy Association, Nargis Medora.
Tracking down the descendents is a tedious job.
Thrice a week, Mr Ghadiali ploughs through websites of Parsi communities worldwide, searching for clues.
He writes letters to Parsi magazines worldwide requesting assistance. When he travels abroad, he asks around the Parsi communities.
So far, he has succeeded in locating the descendents of half of those on the list.
ZOROASTRIAN PRIESTS
'Thank God for the Internet,' he said.
If he cannot find them in time, the community will carry out the rituals on their behalf.
'The community will take care of its own,' said Mr Ghadiali.
NEA will pay for the move, including the construction of a prayer building.
But the community will be asking for donations from the families whose ancestors are buried here.
This is to pay for bringing in Zoroastrian priests.
'My main concern is that the correct prayers are done,' said Mr Ghadiali.
When the time comes, the community will fly in four priests from India. This is expected to cost $3,000 for each priest.
The priests will conduct funeral rituals for the exhumation and move the remains to a new cemetery across the road.
'No one knows for sure the correct thing to do, so no one can say whether it is right or wrong,' he said.
'We decided that funeral rituals would be the most appropriate.'
Grave detective
This man and other elders of the Parsi community in S'pore is on a worldwide search for relatives of those buried in Choa Chu Kang
By Ng Tze Yong
June 01, 2006
RETIREE Rustom Ghadiali is hunched over in front of his computer.
Next to him lies a tattered piece of paper, a long list of scribbled names on it.
With slow strokes of the keyboard, the 65-year-old patiently sends out e-mail after e-mail.
He is looking for the people on his list. But he doesn't have much time.
Next year, when the Parsi cemetery at Choa Chu Kang is acquired by the Government, about 24 graves will have to be exhumed.
Mr Ghadiali is searching for the descendents of those buried there, many of whom are no longer in Singapore.
There are about 200 Parsis in Singapore.
Parsis, most of them traders, began arriving here from India at the beginning of the 20th century.
Traditionally, they practice sky burial, where the bodies are laid out in the open for vultures to devour. (See report right.)
But they've adapted, especially in land-scarce Singapore, where exhumation is common.
Now for the Parsis, the big question is: How to exhume?
This is going to be the third move for the cemetery.
The original one at Palmer Road was moved to Seletar in 1957. Then, in 1982, it was moved to Choa Chu Kang.
When Mr Ghadiali first received the notice from the National Environment Agency (NEA) in January last year, he was worried.
But that did not stop the former vice-president of a semi-conductor company, who is now the president of the Parsi Zoroastrian Association, from springing into action.
He gathered the elders of his community and headed down to the cemetery. There, under the hot sun, they stumbled through the long grass, going from tombstone to tombstone, to record the names of the deceased.
Armed with the list, Mr Ghadiali played detective, tracking down the descendents of the deceased, in Singapore and elsewhere.
'This is a very unusual thing that we have to do,' said Mr Ghadiali. 'We want everyone to be comfortable with it.'
Among the names in the list are a few even non-Parsi Singaporeans would recognise.
Mr Navroji Mistri, after whom the old Mistri Wing of the Singapore General Hospital was named, is buried there.
So too are shipping magnate Pesi Davar and the former President of the Leprosy Association, Nargis Medora.
Tracking down the descendents is a tedious job.
Thrice a week, Mr Ghadiali ploughs through websites of Parsi communities worldwide, searching for clues.
He writes letters to Parsi magazines worldwide requesting assistance. When he travels abroad, he asks around the Parsi communities.
So far, he has succeeded in locating the descendents of half of those on the list.
ZOROASTRIAN PRIESTS
'Thank God for the Internet,' he said.
If he cannot find them in time, the community will carry out the rituals on their behalf.
'The community will take care of its own,' said Mr Ghadiali.
NEA will pay for the move, including the construction of a prayer building.
But the community will be asking for donations from the families whose ancestors are buried here.
This is to pay for bringing in Zoroastrian priests.
'My main concern is that the correct prayers are done,' said Mr Ghadiali.
When the time comes, the community will fly in four priests from India. This is expected to cost $3,000 for each priest.
The priests will conduct funeral rituals for the exhumation and move the remains to a new cemetery across the road.
'No one knows for sure the correct thing to do, so no one can say whether it is right or wrong,' he said.
'We decided that funeral rituals would be the most appropriate.'