The Green Mortician co-founder Yang Loo performing aquamation, or water cremation, for Yuki, a shih tzu. ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
SINGAPORE, June 12 (The Straits Times/ANN): When project manager Janice Soh saw a video of aquamation, or water cremation, by The Green Mortician that her friend shared, the 41-year-old knew immediately that this would be the best option for her ailing toy poodle, Toffee.
Her pet, born in 2008, had been admitted to hospital due to suspected congestive heart failure.
“I felt the assurance after watching the video, and was finally able to let her go,” she said.
“I told Toffee that she did not have to worry about mummy any more, and could stop fighting and struggling.”
Toffee was put to sleep on April 22. Her memorial service, attended by about 20 of Soh’s friends, was held the following day at The Green Mortician, which performed aquamation on the dog.
A week later, Toffee’s ashes were ready. They now accompany Soh everywhere in a koester stone, in which the ashes of the departed are sealed.
Soh, who paid S$577 (RM2,664) for the service, said Toffee had always enjoyed her baths. She also wanted an eco-friendly cremation for Toffee.
“The whole process was gentle, respectful and peaceful, and it helped in the grieving and healing journey as a ‘parent’,” she said.
She hopes aquamation will be extended to humans in time to come.This, too, is the wish of the founders of The Green Mortician, the first and only provider of aquamation here since March 2023.
Toffee’s memorial service was held at The Green Mortician, which performed aquamation on the dog. PHOTO: JANICE SOH
Yang Loo, 28, and co-founder, Joe Kam, 47, have performed the procedure on 50 pets at the facility in Jurong East. They included dogs, cats, birds and hamsters.
They brought in the US$200,000 (RM923,500) aquamation system from the United States.
“There is definitely growing acceptance and demand for an additional end-of-life solution in Singapore, considering the limited options available in our land-scarce country,” Loo said.
Aquamation, scientifically known as alkaline hydrolysis, has been widely available for pets in the US for several years.
Several countries and US states have also legalised it for human remains. {{The technology has been in use by universities and the scientific industries for over 25 years. It has been adopted for the final disposal of human bodies donated to medical science since 1995.}}
The body of the late Nobel Peace laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, underwent aquamation. The anti-apartheid hero, who died in 2021, said climate change was “one of the greatest moral challenges of our time”.
Unlike fire or flame cremation, which uses intense heat of up to 1,000°C, aquamation operates at a low temperature below 95°C. A full cycle uses 900 litres of water for a maximum capacity of 181kg of carcasses once a day.
The carbon footprint is one-tenth of flame-based cremations, and there are no harmful emissions as there is no burning involved, Loo said.
In a clean stainless steel system, a warm solution consisting of 95% water and 5% alkali flows gently across the animal for a number of hours. The hydrolysis process uses water and bases to reduce organic tissue into their molecular components of amino acids and salts.
It is similar to decomposition, but accelerated. There is also 20% to 40% more ash returned to families, compared with flame cremation.
In water cremation, the used water is treated at a licensed treatment facility. This effluent treatment can sometimes make up to 50 per cent of the costs.
The alkaline hydrolysis process produces a sterile solution of amino acids, sugars, nutrients, salts and soap in a water solution. These are the by-products of natural decomposition, and an alternative way to fertilise crops and plant, he said.
In some countries, this liquid solution is used to boost soil fertility. - The Straits Times/ANN
