Friday 21 May 2010

Build cemetery with modern facilities, good infrastructure

1.I am sure most Muslims would find time at least once a year, especially during Ramadan and Hari Raya, to visit and tend the graves of our dearly departed.

2.I am writing on the state of the Muslim cemeteries in Malaysia in particular that I periodically visit in Johor Baru, like the Tanah Perkuburan Islam at Jalan Mahmmoodiah. I have nothing but praise for the immaculate work done in maintaining these cemeteries. However there are only so much that the maintenance people can do to make visiting the graves a more pleasant experience. I observed that careful planning and design of these cemeteries are severely lacking, except for the older area around the Royal Mausoleum at the Tanah Perkuburan Islam at Jalan Mahmmoodiah, which has proper roads and drains. The other areas lack these.

3.I believe the Jabatan Agama Islam Johor (JAIJ) is planning new cemeteries in keeping with the increasing population. I think other Jabatan Agama in other states would also be doing the same. In my frequent travels up and down the Peninsular I observed that most Muslim Cemeteries do lack the proper roads and drains infrastructure necessary for good and easy maintenance which means that graves cannot be easily be located.

4.With regards to the state of many of our cemeteries, it would not be surprising to come across with people who go to cemeteries, and take hours to remember and find the old graves of their departed.

5.As such, for the planning of new cemeteries I would suggest that the various States Jabatan Agama Islam procure the services of specialists Consultants in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Engineering, Surveying/GIS who would be able to design and build a cemetery complete with modern utilities and data management system. These shall include the design of terraced earth platforms for burial lots covered with grass turf, complete with footpaths, roads, and car parks with permanent drains and suitable landscaping features together with a building to house the cemetery Management, maintenance and security staff.

6.The new modern cemetery should also have a system of burial lots for graves placed in a computerized GIS database maintained by Jabatan Agama Islam so that the recently-departed can be quickly and systemically designated a burial lot and individual graves could be easily located.

7.A modern Muslim cemetery should be like a gated housing estate; the only difference is that there are no houses but just graves and burial lots which can easily be located at any time without the help of our parents whose memory would slowly fade as they gracefully age.

8.Good things are never cheap but if the various Jabatan Agama Islam can invest millions of ringgit in new buildings, a modern Muslim cemetery could not be beyond its budget.

9.We, the living work hard to have a beautiful house we wish to live with our family, I think it is only right that when our time on earth is up we are buried in well maintained cemeteries so that our loved one would visit our final resting place on earth sometimes.

7 comments:

gram.kong said...

eddy,
Congratulations.I fully agree with you our Muslim cemetary is not well-organised and lacking in maintenance.

I don't know about Peninsula but in Sabah it is most haphazard.Family members buried the dear departed anywhere they fancy and some cemetary is so congested there were occasions they dug up old unmarked grave.

Maybe, you should write to the relevant department with your proposal.

Fadhil said...

Salam bro,

Welcome to blogosphere! Write more often lah... not once in a while. You've got plenty of ideas.

Check out my post about how the Muslims bury their departed in Singapore -> First departure

Basuh Baju said...

agreed. toi the extent maybe we can install GPS to our cemetary so that people wont get confused which one is theirs..haha :p

just joking.

btw, its a godd idea bro!

gram.kong said...

Bro,
Agree with Oldstock, you have plenty ideas, share it with the world.

eddy said...

Bro HL

Thanks for visiting, this is a subject that I am really keen, I would periodically write on the matter and probably take up your suggestion.

My take is how can we say in future that we are a developed nation with fantastic modern amenities and infrastructure when the graves of our dearly departed are badly organised. I say both should be given serious consideration.

eddy said...

Salam Bro Oldstock, The Singapore Muslim experience is certainly something that our Jabatan Agama Islam can learn first hand if they have not done it already.

Anyway I would probably write more as the ideas pops up. TQ for the encouragement Bro.

eddy said...

Bro BB, actually the joke aside the GPS hand held device is certainly something we may have to use not so long in the future my friend, if the cemeteries are not planned and built with modern facilities and good road and drainage.

Imagine if our parents are no more around to show us the graves of our long departed grand parents, grand uncles and aunts etc. Definitely a hand held GPS is a very welcome tool to use to locate and for us to record the locations for future visits.

Spread the message young man.