Man says he feels ‘cheated’ after uncle asked him and brothers to chip in S$1.5k each for grandmother’s funeral cost

SINGAPORE: A man took to social media to share that he felt “cheated” after his uncle asked him and his two brothers to contribute S$1,500 each towards their grandmother’s funeral expenses.

In a post on the r/SingaporeR subreddit, the man said his uncle approached them to help pay for the funeral, which was held at a temple. However, he later became suspicious after checking funeral prices online and finding that similar arrangements typically cost between S$5,000 and S$8,000.

According to the man, there were around eight cousins and brothers in the family, although he did not know exactly how many of them had been approached for money.

“There were like 8 of us (cousins and bros), but I didn’t know how many people he asked. But it shouldn’t be so expensive, right? Just want to ask around a bit about the cost. Thank you in advance.”

“More than S$10k is the norm.”

His post quickly attracted responses from fellow Reddit users, many of whom felt the simplest solution was to ask for a breakdown of the expenses and receipts.

One commenter said, “Ask him for the cost breakdown? If you are supposed to pay something, you should know what you are paying for and who is sharing the cost.”

Another wrote, “Why don’t you ask the funeral home for the receipt? S$1k per day for rental is normal.”

Others felt the man may have been underestimating the total cost of funeral arrangements and urged him not to jump to conclusions.

“Just accept it. It’s a difficult time for him. Surely not out to scam you now. There may be other costs you are not aware of, such as medical bills before passing,” one Redditor wrote.

Another shared that funeral expenses can easily exceed S$10,000 once all the necessary arrangements are taken into account.

“More than S$10k is the norm, factoring in all the religious rites, cremation, etc,” the commenter said.

A third pointed out that funeral packages alone can already cost significantly more than the figures the man had found online.

“A quick Google search will show you Taoist funerals are more commonly around S$8-11k. That doesn’t include other costs like the crematorium fees and columbarium niche,” they wrote.

A fourth added, “Don’t ask for receipts and don’t complain. Why risk stirring up some bad family drama and getting labelled as the ungrateful cheapskate? Just be glad you could help out.”

In other news, an employer has complained online that her domestic helper expects meals to be cooked for her despite having access to a fully stocked fridge.

On Wednesday (Jun 3), the employer posted in the “Myanmar Maids in Singapore” Facebook group, stating, “Nowadays, are helpers so demanding? Expect employer to cook for them? My fridge is full, but she’s so lazy to cook lunch, then complains that I never give her food. Any employer in the same shoes as me? Any helper can help explain her actions? She really pisses me off every day.”

Read more: Employer fumes as helper expects meals to be cooked for her despite fridge being full