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A monk who turned up at a Buddhist funeral to recite chants ended up getting into a fierce dispute with the deceased's family instead, culminating in a confrontation with fists and chairs thrown.

The incident reportedly took place on Apr. 29 afternoon, at a HDB void deck along Delta Avenue.

According to Shin Min Daily News (Shin Min), the incident was triggered when the monk asked the deceased's family if the speaker used for the religious rites could be moved upstairs into their apartment.

Apparently, the family was dissatisfied with this arrangement, and started arguing with the monk.

The argument

A video of the dispute was circulated in the Facebook group "Complaint Singapore" by user Chu Pi Ka that same night.

It depicts a man dressed in grey monk robes arguing with the deceased's family in Hokkien.

The video starts with a man off-camera asking the monk, "What is your problem?"

The monk responds, "Why can't you help carry this?"

With raised voices, the monk and the man off-camera argue about whether something the monk said was wrong.

The monk insists, "Why can't I? I came here to help you out."

At this point, the monk seems to advance towards the group.

Towards the end of the video, a female voice can be heard urging them not to fight, while another voice says, "You're old already, don't do such things."

A loud thump can be heard before the video cuts out.

The accompanying post, which referred to the man as a "gangster" monk, alleged that he fought with the deceased's family using fists and a chair, and hit a woman as well.

It also alleged that the monk was backed up by his friend, a driver who came to the scene brandishing a 4-foot long stick.

Thankfully, he was stopped.

Subsequently, the monk and the driver left the scene in the latter's vehicle.

The post concluded with a warning to the public not to engage this particular monk's services.

Monk was engaged by the family: Funeral organiser

The funeral organiser's spokesperson revealed to Shin Min that the deceased's family had arranged for the monk to recite chants at the funeral.

Apparently, the deceased, as well as another family member, knew him personally.

After the incident, the monk left shortly before the casket was to be brought to the crematorium, Shin Min understood.

This caused no small inconvenience for the organiser.

"We had make last-minute arrangements for another monk to take over chanting duties for the funeral ceremony," the spokesperson added.

Shin Min also reached out to the monk involved, but he refused an interview.

'Actions and behaviour not befitting a monk': Singapore Buddhist Federation

In response to Shin Min's queries on the incident, a representative from the Singapore Buddhist Federation apologised to the bereaved family and denounced the monk's actions.

"This particular monk's actions and behaviour are not befitting of a monk in Singapore," the spokesperson stated.

The spokesperson also noted that there will always be black sheep in the group, and hoped that the public would continue to respect monks who abide by the law and act with virtue.

A fake 'monk'?

Online users, however, questioned if the monk was who he claimed to be.

Others suggested that the man's hairstyle was not up to scratch, for a monk.

Whoever the man was, it might not have been such a good idea to kick up a fuss at such a sombre occasion.

Top screenshots of video courtesy of Chu Pi Ka on Facebook.