Roland Tay

Roland Tay or better known as 郑海船, is an undertaker in Singapore. He is known for helping the poor and families of murder victims by providing pro-bono funeral arrangements.[1] Memorial services conducted by Roland includes, Huang Na, Liu Hong Mei & Ah Meng, Singapore's tourism icon.

Roland Tay 郑海船
Roland Tay
Born
Tay Hai Choon

Singapore
OccupationUndertaker
Years active1970 - Present
Websitedirectfuneral.wordpress.com, directlifeservices.com.sg

Early life

Born in 1947 as the fourth of 10 children to a hawker in a coffee shop along Lavender Street,[2] Tay began his working life as a coffee boy at his family's coffee shop. He helped the family's coffee shop business by serving coffee and tea to customers in Singapore Casket and learned about the funeral trade.[3]

When his father died, Tay converted the coffee shop into Casket Palace, which was subsequently bought over by Singapore Casket.[4]

Career

In the subsequent years, Tay started a few funeral companies including Tong Aik Undertaker and Direct Funeral Services.

Tong Aik Undertaker is in charge of operating the Singapore Police Force's police hearse and also operates as Direct Funeral Services[5] since 2000.

In 2004, Tay with Direct Funeral Services conducted the pro-bono funeral of Huang Na, an eight-year-old girl who was murdered brutally in Pasir Panjang, Singapore.[6] This was followed by another pro-bono funeral in 2005 of 22-year-old Chinese national Liu Hong Mei who was murdered and chopped into seven parts before being dumped in the Kallang River.[7] The process of sewing the body parts back together took Roland Tay and his embalmers 7 hours.[8] He also oversaw the funeral of Li Hong Yan a 24-year-old village girl from Heilongjiang who drowned at Sentosa.[9]

Tay reportedly collected around three hundred identity cards of deceased whom were without family and whom he conducted pro-bono funerals services.[4][10]

One of Tay's more memorable cases is the pro-bono funeral he provided for the primate tourism icon Ah Meng of Singapore.[11]

In 2013, Tay brought his daughter Jenny Tay into the business who subsequently helped him rebrand the undertaking firm[12] after quitting her job at a marketing firm.

Personal life

In 2013, Tay and his wife, Sally Ho, filed and finalized their divorce in June. According to the court papers, the cumulated properties were estimated to be a total of about $20 million.[13]

Notable pro bono cases
DateCaseDetails
9 Nov 2004Huang Na9 year old girl brutally murdered
12 July 2005Liu Hong MeiKallang Body Parts Murder[1]
31 Oct 2005Maung Saw OoMyanmar national who hanged himself when faced with deportation[14]
3 Dec 2005Nguyen Tuong VanAustralian Teen Hanged for Drug trafficking
27 Mar 2006Pham Thi Truc LincVietnamese Hostess who died climbing out of Toapayoh Flat[15]
Oct 2006Tan Jee SuanMan who ran into MRT[16]
27 May 2007Yuan Fu DiChinese National who died from hit and run[16]
26 Oct 2007Pan HuiMarsiling Murder of 15 Year old Girl[17]
16 November 2007Siu Chun TaoConstruction Worker who fell to his death[18]
10 February 2008Ah MengDeath of Singapore tourism mascot, Ah Meng[11]
1 July 2009Huang Rui JingUnemployed Man has no money to mourn for sister[19]
24 March 2010Li Hong YanKaraoke hostess from China drowned at Sentosa[20]
13 May 2011AlaminBangladeshi worker who died while trapped in a container[21]
1 Feb 2015Ken OngMurdered his wife Karen Koh before turning the same knife on himself at their Yuan Ching Road home[22]

References
  1. Chai, Hung Yin (4 September 2012). "He stitched murder victim's body back into one piece". Singapore Press Holdings. The New Paper. Archived from the original on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  2. Lim, Wen Jian (25 April 2011). "Remember The Date". The Straits Times.
  3. "Life Story 2 Episode 8". XinMsn. Archived from the original on December 26, 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  4. Ong, Janine. "Collecting the Pink Card: Roland Tay's Charitable Funeral Services". Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  5. "About". Tong Aik Undertaker 郑海船 96379909. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  6. Nadarajan, Ben (9 November 2005). "Thousands Bid tearful farewell to Huang Na". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times.
  7. "Kallang body parts murder". Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  8. T., Sua (12 July 2005). "Final Send Off". Singapore Press Holdings. NewspaperSG.
  9. "The naked body & story behind Adrian Chua's Sentosa Cove pool in S'pore". 23 Jul 2010. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  10. Yang, JiaJun (8 February 2009). "100 Identity Cards, 100 Sad Stories". Singapore Press Holdings. Lian He Wanbao 联合晚报.
  11. Kong, Simin (10 February 2008). "4000 people give Ah Meng a final farewell". Singapore Press Holdings. Xinmin Daily News 新明日报.
  12. "Wrist Taker". The Straits Times. 21 September 2017. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  13. Tan, Judith. "Big money, big fight". The New Paper. Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  14. Low, Ling Ching (31 October 2005). "He Gets Tragic Death Wish". Singapore Press Holdings. The New Paper.
  15. Lim, Joyce (27 May 2007). "Funerals For Free". Singapore Press Holdings.
  16. Lim, Joyce (27 May 2007). "To Her, He Is For Real". Singapore Press Holdings. The Newpaper.
  17. Ang, Yan Ming (26 Oct 2007). "Buried In White". Singapore Press Holdings. Lian He Wan Bao 联合晚报.
  18. Tan, Kaisong (16 November 2007). "Bloodied Clothes were changed, His death was treated as a car accident". Singapore Press Holdings. Lian He Wan Bao 联合晚报.
  19. Tan, Kaisong (1 July 2009). "Unemployed Man has no money to mourn for sister". Singapore Press Holdings. Lian He Wan Bao 联合晚报.
  20. "Sentosa Cove drowning ruled an accident". my paper. 29 Dec 2010. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  21. Seetor, Benjamin (13 May 2011). "Just Eight Strangers At His Funeral". Singapore Press Holdings. The New Paper.
  22. "Man at son's cremation despite differences". My Paper. 2 Feb 2015. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
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