Harmony Funeral Care says sorry to family again over body mix-up, wishes to settle ‘regretful matter’ amicably
Harmony Funeral Care’s spokesperson said it has left its lawyers to respond to the letters of demand the family’s lawyers had issued the firm.
SINGAPORE — Funeral services firm Harmony Funeral Care, which found itself at the centre of the wrongful cremation of a 82-year-old deceased man, apologised to his family again on Friday (Jan 17), and said it hopes to settle the “regretful matter in an amicable manner”.
The company’s statement came after TODAY reported earlier in the day that aggrieved family members of the late Kee Kin Tiong have served legal letters to the company, its employee and two other parties involved in the mix-up, demanding public apologies and compensation.
The company’s spokesperson said it has left its lawyers to respond to the letters of demand the family’s lawyers had issued the firm, and would like to extend its “sincere apologies” once again for the grief caused by its “inexcusable error”.
Speaking on behalf of Harmony Funeral Care and Century Products — the funeral parlour that had been engaged to embalm or wash both bodies involved in the mix-up — the spokesperson said the firms “do not intend to conduct our negotiations for a settlement through the media”.
Nevertheless, the spokesperson addressed a few of the family’s allegations, which TODAY had carried:
1. Visiting the family at the wake
The family claimed in the legal letters that both Harmony Funeral Care and Century Products “did not apologise personally to the deceased and did not accord any respect to the deceased during the funeral”.
Response: The spokesperson said it would like to put on record that senior management of both companies had visited the family at the wake on several occasions.
They had even offered ritualistic apology to the deceased with red candles, red packet, oranges and red cloth, she added.
2. No proper apology
The family said in the letters that they were dissatisfied with the contents of a statement that the two firms had jointly issued to the media on Jan 6, and that they were not consulted prior to its release.
Speaking to TODAY, Ms Kee Poh San, one of the elder Kee’s eight children, and her husband Mr Derrick Ho, both 48, added that they were issued an unsigned apology letter before that, on Jan 1. When asked why it was not signed, Harmony Funeral Care had told them that it was only a draft.
Response: The spokesperson said two written apologies were in fact issued – one to the family and another published in the media on Jan 6, which were “to express our profound apologies for the error”.
The first was unsigned, she said, as it was a draft that Harmony Funeral Care’s founder, Ms Harmony Tee, 26, had showed to a family member to confirm that they were agreeable with its contents before she finalised it.
Till today, the family has not received a signed copy as “the family had not given such confirmation”, she said.
The spokesperson also said that the family was informed of the decision to issue the Jan 6 media statement and shown a copy prior to it being sent to the media.
“The media statement contained our apology and the steps we would take to tighten up our processes to prevent a similar incident,” she said.
3. Unprofessionalism
The family alleged that Ms Tee had acted unprofessionally in their first meeting on Dec 30 at Block 148 Rivervale Crescent, where Kee’s wake was supposed to be held. When the family asked who the boss of the funeral parlour was, Ms Tee pointed to another man.
Response: The spokesperson said this was a “misunderstanding”.
She said Ms Tee had directed the family to her father when someone asked who the boss was as he is the patriarch of the family business.
“(Ms Tee) was not in any way trying to evade responsibility for her firm’s mistake,” said the spokesperson, adding that she had, prior to that interaction, given them her name card which clearly described her as the founder of Harmony Funeral Care.
