Human’s visit Mandai, temples and places with tombstones and columbarium to pay respect to their deceased loved ones. What about pet owners?

“Every so often, a columbarium in Pasir Ris is packed with visitors carrying tributes for their loved ones. But instead of flowers and joss sticks, they place old toys and cans of Cesar or Whiskas in the see-through niches.

This is no regular columbarium for humans, but one meant for pets.

Handwritten notes with touching messages, as well as mementoes and photos from when the pet was alive, decorate each niche.”

The services of pet columbarium have increased significantly, surged in popularity in recent years, says Mr Patrick Lim Thye Song, the undertaker at Pets Cremation Centre in Pasir Ris Farmway 2. Mr Lim had expanded his business to another facility in Ubi due to the growing demand.

Says Mr Lim, 63: “When pets die, their owners grieve as though a sibling or a child has passed away. Funeral services give them the closure they need.” 

“Pet owners want a solution as soon as possible. When they are so upset, few people can bear to leave the bodies lying there,” he adds.

Ms Ling Ing, an administrator at Mount Pleasant, said that columbarium for pets is the only “safe” option for owners. This is because in Singapore, there are no burial sites earmarked for animals, hence pet owners do not have any other proper solution other than discarding them away.

Says Ms Ling: “Without a burial ground, cremation is the only choice for them.”

After all, niches don’t come cheap.
(So as a Designer, how I can allow pet owners to keep their ashes/ memories of their pets without paying monthly for a niche?)

While expanding business and columbarium is on the rise, both companies lease would end soon, then what will happen after that? Hence this is where I should step in, to create something for pet owners to still remember their pet, “beautify them”, talk to them and constantly still able to “feel and touch them”.