We encountered this stench in the homes of those who had died lonely deaths, at the mortuary, and during preparations at the funeral parlour.
It stuck to our clothes, and it cemented for us why someone like Heng Aik Min, who lives alone, can be at peace with death, and yet is afraid of rotting in his home after he dies. Imagine everyone’s final memory of you being a putrid stink.
What also struck a chord was how high the probability of dying lonely deaths is for us, the producers. We learnt that family we are close to but don’t live with, and even neighbours we meet regularly, are not safeguards against dying alone and undiscovered.
As our ageing population chooses to or ends up living alone, we can expect an increase in lonely deaths. Singapore will need more hearts dedicated to service, people like Linda Tan and Junaidi Zumzuri who arrange the last rites for those with no one to send them off.
But beyond dealing with the aftermath of lonely deaths, we also need solutions to prevent or mitigate these deaths in the first place, be it with technology or more volunteers. We hope this series plants the seed for those solutions.
Dynn Othman, Liu Ziqing, Quah Mui Koon & Tang Hui Huan
Producers, Dead Alone in Singapore
