Mount Vernon Complex (翡珑山) - Sanctuary and Crematorium

Continuation for my post to Mount Vernon Columbarium located HERE. Given i was already in the complex, i might as well make use of the time to stroll around and check out the niches!  

Just to make things clear, this shall be a pictorial post! My brains have been over-utilised for the past few days and it's time to give it a damn good rest.

From the main entrance along Upper Aljunied road, the above is the first big building i came to. 

Six funeral parlours available for families and friends to commemorate / celebrate / mourn the death of their loved ones. 

An empty service hall (the more accepted term for funeral parlour); it would be disrespectful to barge into an operational hall no matter how keen i am to check it out! 

Beside the six-hall in one sanctuary is a disused service hall that seems to be stuck in the 1980s without all the modern amenities of the 21st century. Bet this would be a popular spot for thrill seekers at night.

Turn your ashes into diamonds; this latest technology doesn't come cheap although i thought it is really cool to have your loved ones as a diamond ring that you can keep close to you for a long long time. 

The use of this kind of stone seat was very widespread before the 90s; in gardens, parks, schools and even outside offices. Nowadays. 

Let's retrace our footsteps to where i stop at my last Mount Vernon's post - the Mount Vernon Columbarium Pagoda, except that this time, i am at the low-rise blocks.

Design wise - they were laid out like a hexagon (use some imagination) and from the top of the pagoda, you can see blocks of them neatly spaced out. Quite an impressive sight.

The lack of connected sheltered walkway also means that you would subject to the elements of nature! 

Side view of the blocks. There are easily more than fifty such blocks!

Niches holding the urns of the departed. Nowadays, you can neither buy nor reserve any niche within Mount Vernon. This has something to do with the future development of Mount Vernon into a new town. 

I am not sure about you even though i doubt would even consider purchasing a flat in the vicinity. The original purpose of this area is to keep the dead and there will likely be some remnants right?

Stone-cast paper money burner.

Almost tripped on these round things! Well, i would much prefer to trip instead of stepping on dog shit! 

Those things look like mangoes and the trees were filled with them. The abundance of fruits yet absence of ants would likely mean they are inedible. 

Incense sticks cauldron. Someone left right before my grand arrival. 

A more commonly used paper burner container. As you may have noticed from the above picture, most of the niches have been sealed up.

And the things that stood out were the stalks of fake flowers of varied colour and shape. I wonder if they were indeed placed by the families. 

Real flowers like the above were uncommon during my visit and are no doubt a rarity given the low level of visitors.

An exposed niche - spacious enough to hold my head. 

Most niches contained the ashes of one or two people. The above kept the remains for four persons! Hm.....  the rate for a niche is based on the number of persons or the number of niche used? Pretty worth it if it is the former. 

Saw two unusual white bellied squirrels playing with the common squirrels. 

Not all the blocks feature Chinese green-tiled roofs.

These were likely the first blocks to be built and uniquely, the incense sticks holder was incorporated into the blocks without the need for a separate holder.

Guess the purpose for this building!

More niches! The space between each block is squeezy and i cannot imagine how chaotic it would be during the Qing Ming festival when families come to pay their annual respect. 

With a super common design, this building appeared boring to many. However, it exuded an eerie gloominess to it and would be a marvelous place to play hide and seek when night falls. 

-The End-