SHOPKEEPERS at Nyaung Pinlay Plaza in Lanmadaw township have donated a hearse to an organisation in Yangon that provides free funerals for the needy.

The hearse, valued at about K10 million, was handed over to the Funeral Services Association during a ceremony at its headquarters in Thingyangun township on April 7.

The association’s chairman, U Aye Thant, said it was the first such donation from a public market.

Nyaung Pinlay Plaza is the main wholesale and retail commodities market in Yangon.

The donation brings the number of hearses in the association’s fleet to six.
The latest donation also brings the number of hearses donated to the association this year to three. The other two were donated by the Venerable Lathkattaung Sayadaw, a monk based at a monastery at Thaton in Mon State, who also gives 10 bags of rice a month for the association’s staff and volunteers.

U Aye Thant said that the association has received individual donations from people ranging in age from five to 99 years.

They included a K50,000 donation on April 19 from a kindergarden student, Ma Nay Chi Su Su Latt, to mark her fifth birthday.

The association provides free transport to cemeteries and covers the cost of cremations and burials, as well as extending sympathy to the bereaved.

U Aye Thant said the demand for the association’s service was growing because of the rising cost of funerals. The average cost of a funeral in Yangon is at least K50,000.

The association paid for more than 6900 funerals last year, up from about 5900 in 2002 and 2880 when it began operations in 2001.

U Aye Thant said the association was providing assistance for more than 30 funerals a day this year, up from about 25 in previous years. There were about 150 funerals in Yangon each day, he said.

The association received about K10 million in donations from the public every month. Its costs were about K7.5 million a month.

U Aye Thant said the association was widely known because it was promoted by prominent celebrities and well publicised by its supporters in the media.

The association, which provides the only free funeral service in Yangon, was established under the guidance of a famous writer and film director, U Thu Kha.