It is customary at some funeral wakes, held at HDB void decks or funeral parlours, for mourners to scatter joss paper when the hearse leaves the site, or along the route of the funeral procession.

The indiscriminately scattered joss paper is an eyesore if not cleaned up quickly.

But inevitably, it is cleaners from town councils or the National Environment Agency who bear the burden of cleaning up the mess, an additional cost to the authorities.

One solution is to get those responsible, that is, the bereaved party, to voluntarily clean up the mess when the funeral is over.

This can be achieved by collecting a deposit when the bereaved family applies for a permit to use the void deck or hold a funeral procession.

Should the place be cleaned up by the bereaved party, the deposit will be refunded. Otherwise, the authorities will clean up the mess and forfeit the deposit. A choice is, thus, given.

Koh Geok Beng