This Grave Digger is an ex-commando

[makapaaa]

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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - This Grave Digger is an ex-commando</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>

Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">kojakbt22 <NOBR>

</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">8:19 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 3) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>4147.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>

Mr Wong goes about his work against a backdrop of Choa Chu Kang flats. The graves at the Kwong Hou Sua Teochew Cenetary are being moved to make way for an MRT depot.

Mr Wong, who exhumes two graves a day, rests on a tombstone. 'I used to be able to dig three or four graves a day,' the 52-year-old says. 'But I'm old now.'

Digging for 27 years has left Mr Wong's palms calloused. He was a commando during national service, and had worked as an undertaker and bouncer.

Mr Wong Shun Feng (centre) being helped out of a 2m-deep grave after breaking a layer of concrete at the bottom to reach the remains. Air trapped for over 50 years wafts out - a heady mix of earth and decay.






[email protected]

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[makapaaa]

<TABLE class=msgtablealt cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"></TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">kojakbt22 <NOBR>

</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">8:20 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right>(2 of 3) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4></TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>4147.2 in reply to 4147.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Grave Expectations

</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lim Wui Liang </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
MR WONG Shun Feng, 52, squats inside a hole beneath a tombstone.

To the untrained eye, one sees nothing but soil. But he scrapes the m&d with his fingers and plucks out small fragments of human bones.
'You must be very careful,' he says in Hokkien. 'Every bone, no matter how small, must be retrieved.'
He has been exhuming graves for 27 years.
For the past two months, he has been working at the Kwong Hou Sua Teochew Cemetery, off Woodlands Road, with 35 other gravediggers.
Part of the 14.6ha cemetery, which has been closed for burial since the 1970s, is being cleared to make way for the proposed Downtown Line MRT depot.
Exhumation works for the 2,068 graves, which is being handled by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), ended earlier this month.
It takes about 90 minutes for Mr Wong to exhume one grave. He is paid about $80 for each.
The remains are placed in white plastic bags. They are sent to Mandai Crematorium for cremation, then stored in urns.
Tough though it is, exhumation is also a delicate procedure.
'You must know the depth at which the bones are buried so as not to break them with your shovel,' explains MrWong.
'Sometimes, the body is buried at a different position from the tombstone. So, you have to poke the soil around it to feel for the softer areas.'
His experience is well-respected among his colleagues and they address him as Tua Ya Pek in Hokkien.
Tua Ya Pek is a Taoist Netherworld deity and Mr Wong has it tattooed on his back. On the front of his body, he has another Netherworld deity, Li Ya Pek, tattooed. Despite the hard work, he enjoys his job. When asked how he got into this line, all he would say was: 'It's fate.'
[email protected]


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[VIBGYOR]

i still wonder the rational behind storing human carcasses and bones for rememberance? why do we values "physical things" so much? the spirit and soul already departed. that's the most essential part. body is just an enclosure, it's just an object after death. like tables or chairs.

i prefer to be cremated to the most extreme temperatures, no bones please, just ashes and dust to be spread around earth as nutrients for plants and trees to grow.

 

[lolabunny]

i still wonder the rational behind storing human carcasses and bones for rememberance? why do we values "physical things" so much? the spirit and soul already departed. that's the most essential part. body is just an enclosure, it's just an object after death. like tables or chairs.

i prefer to be cremated to the most extreme temperatures, no bones please, just ashes and dust to be spread around earth as nutrients for plants and trees to grow.

Gosh this sounds so morbid! :p

Is this a sad day for you? I keep seeing you post stuff which sounds so gloomy! Cheer up!

 

[VIBGYOR]

Gosh this sounds so morbid! :p

Is this a sad day for you? I keep seeing you post stuff which sounds so gloomy! Cheer up!

death is not gloomy! it should be rejoiced, if one can enter the kingdom of heaven!

so don't be afraid of death, take it like a man when the day comes!

when people dies, new babies will be born. now isn't that lovely?

 

[Neh_Neh_Pok]

"Wah ah, hope he don't come ka jiao mine next time. Hei hei hei hei hei.. "

 

[lolabunny]

death is not gloomy! it should be rejoiced, if one can enter the kingdom of heaven!

so don't be afraid of death, take it like a man when the day comes!

when people dies, new babies will be born. now isn't that lovely?

Yes it is lovely when new babies are born. No one should be afraid of death. It is integral to living, like love.

But I can feel that you are sad. Take care!

 

[eeoror88]

death is not gloomy! it should be rejoiced, if one can enter the kingdom of heaven!

so don't be afraid of death, take it like a man when the day comes!

when people dies, new babies will be born. now isn't that lovely?

Judging by the extremely low birth rate of Singaporean, I doubt so !!

 

[VIBGYOR]

What is Love?

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[eeoror88]

Yes it is lovely when new babies are born. No one should be afraid of death. It is integral to living, like love.

But I can feel that you are sad. Take care!

Can share some love ?? Keke .....

 

[lolabunny]

Can share some love ?? Keke .....

I can share love with the world but not with you. You are a flirt. :p:p:p

HATE YOU!!!

 

[eeoror88]

I can share love with the world but not with you. You are a flirt. :p:p:p

HATE YOU!!!

You better cook a better turkey this XXX'mas ... past few years were like rubber meat left in the winter cold!!!

 

[lolabunny]

You better cook a better turkey this XXX'mas ... past few years were like rubber meat left in the winter cold!!!

Oi haven't cooked for you yet you don't hallucinate ok? :p:p:p

You are the chicken left in the winter cold. No guts to call me, can only get to eat tough old lau kway bus for Xmas. I hope you enjoy the currypuff Allie.

ROT IN HELL OF LONELINESS!

 

[0939]

Yes it is lovely when new babies are born. No one should be afraid of death. It is integral to living, like love.

But I can feel that you are sad. Take care!

You will rejoice when you give them life. But death is awaiting them.
It is painful to bring them up. NS is waiting for them. So it is wise to
have lesser babies.

 

[lolabunny]

You will rejoice when you give them life. But death is awaiting them.
It is painful to bring them up. NS is waiting for them. So it is wise to
have lesser babies.

Don't have them here. Choose the right person and place to have it with.

 

[eeoror88]

Don't have them here. Choose the right person and place to have it with.

You divorced ??

 

[lolabunny]

You divorced ??

Nope. Single and available.

 

[vamjok]

these days even married is also available

 

[lolabunny]

these days even married is also available

Oh dear.

 

[Ah Guan]

Commando trained professional trench digger

For a 52 year old, he's damn fit