On to the afterlife, Cheerio!

Back to back funerals within 2 weeks made the end of the 2007 look pretty gloomy (not to mention that these were not kin but religious service members of my mother's group and she being an awful driver at night roped me in to ferry her to the departed). The first one being the usual wail-y chinese stuff that you expect in a house with the whole stage setup and the coffin in the doorway of the house, etc.

Which was why the second one at the Nirvana Memorial Centre (located in some inaccessible part of the Seremban Highway was chic and downright $$$ and so..............modern? (By some coincidence, one of our neighbours also passed away and the NMC were called to organize another 'house party' for 5 nights straights, thus depriving the whole lot of us of sleep during the new year welcoming)

Let's see:

• a 5 storey building with multiple private rooms (there were at least 6 rooms on the floor we were at), cushioned seats for visitors, flowers for offerings (instead of the nominal pungent incense that I would love to waves around. Flowers would make me look like some Bollywood pervert)

• Wowee, free internet service and a serviceable bar if you paid enough money.

• Online memorials to boot if you top up some more.

• Smiling young undertakers (read: sales reps) in ads greeting you in the lifts. More of the manning the visitor logs and being sales reps and refilling the refreshments (which is usually peanuts and water, must ask mum why do they only serve those)

• Some plots of land resembling Cameron Highlands hillside somewhere out there.

• Do they offer the service of Mark Callaway to tombstone piledriver those pesky ones that refused to pass over to the other side?

• Why is it that the services are still conducted by wail-y old men?
  

With the world population booming towards 10 billion and everyone getting more or less richer, I guess business can only get better (Time to invest in some stocks): "Auntie, I am definitely here to sell you something that you will need, it is not insurance wan. Just some nice plot of land for you and hubbie side by side, and we will throw in some farewell party, eco-friendly one, nice smelling one.....yadda, yadda, yadda,"

Btw, did I mention modern in describing the Nirvana Memorial Centre? Scratch that, I mean scary.