Dear Master,

My mum had passed away recently and we have placed her urn at the crematorium. Since this is a period of eight, I thought it would be good to find a highest level niche with a number that ends with eight. But her niche is located at the center column, so sandwich between other niches at the same level. Is this considered a good location or should I do something or place something to make her niche slightly higher than the rest?

Also, we would like to exhume our fathers grave and cremate his body, so that he can be placed together with my mum. Some people said that we should not do it until government wants to take over the burial ground but we thought they would be happier to be together in the same niche as early as possible. May I have your comment on this and is there anything that I should take note of, and base on whos or what auspicious timing should I choose for the exhumation?

Thanks in advance!

1. These are my reflections on the matter: once a person has been cremated, everything changes and becomes neutral.

2. For instance, when a person is buried, the Chinese believe it is very auspicious to bury them in a favorable location and facing a certain direction. It is believed that a good burial site and good Feng Shui can bring luck to future generations of the family.

3. Therefore, this is likely why most people advise against prematurely removing the coffin and cremating a loved one unless there is no other choice.

4. Historically, many burial sites were indeed very auspicious. Well-known auspicious burial sites include the current Orchard MRT grounds (facing the Tangs-Marriot hotel), Bishan park/area, and the Teochew burial grounds (formerly in Yishun).

5. Once a person is cremated, in my view, as I mentioned earlier, it becomes neutral and it no longer matters whether the urn is placed high or low. Some even scatter the ashes into the sea.

6. The selection of a higher niche or facing direction of the niche is more psychological than anything else. More importantly, family members and close relatives must all agree with it. For example, if the youngest son or daughter wants to cremate the father but other close relatives refuse, it's better not to do it.

7. The idea of "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" applies. For example, what happens if the body is in partial decay? In fact, to exhume a grave, experienced grave diggers have certain rituals to perform. For example, during the day, they would place a piece of canvas between "heaven and earth" when they need to expose the body.

8. Many niches nowadays can hold two or three urns, or if new, one can always buy niches several levels high or low or side-by-side.