ABSTRACT
The book began by posing the question of why the Chinese in Singapore, a purportedly pragmatic people, spend great amounts of money in order to ensure the enactment of elaborate death rituals. Furthermore, for a people who are said to value longevity, the Chinese in Singapore seem to be particularly preoccupied with preparing for death. I have shown that death rituals have multiple foci. They reveal many things at the same time and the same thing many times. Through analysis of how the key symbols involved in death rituals, including souls, bones, flesh, blood, food, numbers, money, and time, are viewed and used by the ritual participants, the rationale for enactment of elaborate death rituals becomes apparent. It is not based on any one single principle, but on a range of factors that create an obligation to worship the dead. Various factors, such as the rules of descent, ethical imperatives, debt repayments, duty and obligation, status elevation, social conformity, personal self-interest, and management of death pollution combine to act upon the Chinese individual to ensure that death rituals are performed.
