S'porean Indian woman, 74, who grew up in Sembawang Chinese village, gets Taoist funeral send off

74-year-old Ya Ni (transliterated) was an ethnically Indian woman, but before she passed away from pneumonia on the week of Aug. 10, she instructed her family to send her off in accordance with Chinese funeral rites.

At the wake, younger generations were dressed in blue and green pants to differentiate their generations and knelt before the altar as per Taoist customs.

Grew up in Chinese village

According to Shin Min Daily News, the Singaporean woman grew up in a predominantly Chinese village.

She was the third child and eldest daughter of seven children.

Three generations of her family spoke Mandarin and Hokkien.

Her father had migrated from India while her mother hailed from Malaya, and the family settled in Sembawang.

Indian rituals preserved

Ya Ni's wake was held at Block 109, Yishun Ring Road, according to Shin Min.

Chinese rituals were adhered to, including the preparation of a spirit house to be burned.

Indian cultural rites were also preserved, such as the placing of a bindi on the deceased's portrait by her son.

According to Ya Ni's sister, who spoke in Hokkien and Mandarin, their family was the only Indian family in the village growing up, and as such had to learn to communicate in Hokkien.

They celebrated both Deepavali and Chinese New Year, even receiving red packets during the latter.

While their father originally spoke in Malayalam, an Indian language, he learnt Hokkien from his wife, who spoke the dialect authentically.

The elder woman similarly had a Chinese-Taoist funeral when she passed in 2003.

When one of Ya Ni's brothers passed away in 1998, the same was prepared for him.

Of the seven siblings and their spouses, two in-laws are ethnically Chinese.

Ya Ni's husband also started speaking in Hokkien after marriage.

According to their children, they spoke in the dialect to their maternal grandmother from a young age, but never learnt their maternal grandfather's native Malayalam.

Ya Ni had reportedly requested one of her brothers, who works in the funeral industry, to prepare her funeral in accordance to Hokkien customs before her death, according to her sister.