Deaths in Singapore offset the population increase from live births. In 2007, 17,140 people in Singapore died from various causes. The death rate was 4.5 deaths per 1,000 of the population.. There are strict regulations surrounding death and treatment of the body after death.
Legal definition of death Under section 2A of the Interpretation Act,. a person is considered as having died when there is either irreversible cessation of circulation of blood and respiration, or total and irreversible cessation of all functions of the brain.Interpretation Act, s. 2A(1). Irreversible cessation of the blood circulation and respiration is determined according to ordinary standards of current medical practice,Interpretation Act, s. 2A(2). while total and irreversible cessation of all brain functions is made in accordance with the following criteria:Interpretation Act, s. 2A(3). Conditions to be satisfied before determining irreversible cessation of all brain functions. Before tests are carried out to determine if all the functions of a person's brain have irreversibly ceased, the following conditions must be satisfied: the person's condition must undoubtedly be due to irremediable structural brain damage and the diagnosis of any disorder which can lead to the irreversible cessation of all functions of the person's brain must be fully established; there must be no suspicion that the person's condition is due to depressant drugs, hypothermia or metabolic and endocrine factors; and the person's cessation of spontaneous respiration is not caused by neuromuscular blocking agents or other drugs., reg. 2. Criteria for determining irreversible cessation of all brain functions. To determine the irreversible cessation of all functions of the brain of a person, tests must be carried out with the result that: the pupils are fixed and non-reactive to strong light; there is no corneal reflex; there is no spontaneous motor response to painful stimulus, excluding spinal reflexes; there is no oculocephalic reflex; there is no gag reflex or reflex response to tracheobronchial stimulation; there is no vestibulo-ocular response on instillation of 50 cc of ice-cold water into each ear; and there is no spontaneous respiration even with carbon dioxide tension at 50 mm or more of mercury.Interpretation (Determination and Certification of Death) Regulations, reg. 3. Where there is still a corneal reflex or spontaneous motor response to painful stimulus but all other criteria are satisfied, or where any of the criteria cannot be performed but the remaining criteria are satisfied, the irreversible cessation of all brain functions can be determined by a combination of the criteria that have been satisfied and the performance of a supplementary test.Interpretation (Determination and Certification of Death) Regulations, reg. 3A. These tests are cerebral angiography to confirm that there is no intracranial blood flow, and a radionuclide scan to confirm that there is no intracranial perfusion.Interpretation (Determination and Certification of Death) Regulations, First Schedule.
In addition, the Interpretation Act sets out other safeguards for the determination of death: Cases where organ to be removed for transplant. Where an organ is to be removed for a transplant pursuant to the Human Organ Transplant Act. or the Medical (Therapy, Education and Research) Act,. from the body of a deceased person, the death must be certified by two medical practitioners: who have not been involved in the care or treatment of the person; who do not belong to the team of medical practitioners which will remove the organ from the body; who have not been involved in selecting the proposed recipient of the organ; and who will not be involved in the care or treatment of the proposed recipient during his or her hospitalization for the transplant.Interpretation Act, ss. 2A(5) and (6). Where the death was due to total and irreversible cessation of all brain functions, the two medical practitioners certifying the death must also possess certain prescribed postgraduate medical qualifications.Interpretation Act, s. 2A(6)(e). Other cases. In other cases, the determination of the total and irreversible cessation of all brain functions of a person must be certified by two medical practitioners who possess the prescribed postgraduate medical qualifications. At least one of them must not have been involved in the care or treatment of the deceased person.Interpretation Act, s. 2A(4).
Presumption of death of missing persons When the question of whether a person is alive or dead arises, and it is shown that he was alive within 30 years, the burden of proving that he or she is dead lies on the person who affirms it., s. 109. However, if it is proved that he or she has not been heard of for seven years by those who would naturally have heard of the person if he or she had been alive, the burden of proving that the person is alive shifts to the person who affirms this.Evidence Act, s. 110.
Any married person who alleges that reasonable grounds exist for supposing that the other party to the marriage is dead may apply to court to have it presumed that the other party is dead and to have the marriage dissolved. If the court is satisfied that such reasonable grounds exist, it may make an interim judgment of presumption of death and of divorce., s. 100(1). In such proceedings, the fact that for seven years or more the other party to the marriage has been continually absent from the applicant, and the applicant has no reason to believe that the other party has been living within that time, is evidence that the missing person is dead until the contrary is proved.Women's Charter, s. 100(2).
Causes of death As of 2017, the top 10 causes of death in Singapore were those set out in the table below:
RankCause of death% of total deaths1 Cancer 29.12 Pneumonia 20.13 Ischaemic heart diseases 18.54 Cerebrovascular disease (including stroke) 6.35 External causes of morbidity and mortality 4.06 Hypertensive diseases (including hypertensive heart disease)3.47 Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis 2.48 Urinary tract infection 1.99 Other heart diseases 1.910 Diabetes mellitus 1.510 Chronic obstructive lung disease 1.5
Capital punishment
Capital punishment is legal in Singapore. The number of judicial executions has fluctuated widely depending on crime rates; at its highest point, according to unofficial statistics compiled by Amnesty International, about 408 people were hanged between 1991 and 2003;. at its lowest point in 2010, none were executed.. Between 2004 and 2011, the number of executions varied between none and 10.. Hanging, which is used for all executions and are carried out in Changi Prison on Fridays at dawn, are by the long drop method, which severs the spinal cord..
Suicide
Suicide is a significant non-medical cause of death in Singapore. Attempted suicide was an offence punishable with jail under section 309 of the Penal Code. However, on 6 May 2019, the law was amended to decriminalise suicide.
Between 2000 and 2004, 1,700 people killed themselves,. and in 2007 suicides amounted to about 2.2% of all deaths.According to table 3.9 (deaths by group of causes) of , out of the total number of 17,140 deaths in Singapore, 374 were due to suicide. For every suicide, there were seven non-fatal attempts.
It was reported in 2006 that suicide was one of the top causes of death of Singapore youths. In 2001, five children younger than 15 years took their lives, and 37 people between the ages of 15 and 25 did so..
Treatment of the body after death After a person died, a doctor will certify the cause of death if it is known and due to natural causes. A certificate of cause of death (CCOD) will be given to the family of the deceased. If the doctor is unable to determine the cause of death, or the death is due to non-natural causes, it will be reported to the police as per the Criminal Procedure Code.. The police will provide a hearse to send the body to the Centre for Forensic Medicine (CFM) Mortuary at Block 9 of the Singapore General Hospital..
The CFM Mortuary will inform the family to view and identify the body of the deceased in the presence of a coroner, who reviews the case and determines if an autopsy is required. The family will be informed of the coroner's decision and the time to claim the body for the funeral by the investigation officer. If an autopsy is conducted and reveals that the death is unnatural, the police will conduct further investigations into the cause of death with the family's assistance. Once the investigations are complete, the family will be told to attend a coroner's inquiry at the Subordinate Courts. Only after that will they be able to claim the body. If the coroner decides that no autopsy is needed or if the cause of death is deemed to be natural and no foul play is suspected, the investigation officer will inform the family members to collect the body.
After the family obtains the CCOD, they usually engage a funeral director (also known as an undertaker) who collects the body, embalms it if necessary, and delivers it to the wake. In addition, they have to decide whether the body is to be cremated or buried, and register the death.. The funeral director also helps to make arrangements for the wake and funeral, according to the religious beliefs and wishes of the family..
Registration of death When a person dies in a house, the death must be notified to the authorities within 24 hours by the occupier of the house in which to his or her knowledge the death took place, the relatives of the deceased present at his or her death or in attendance during the last illness of the deceased, or each person present at the death. If those persons fail to do so, another inmate of the house or the person causing the body of the deceased person to be buried., s. 15(1).
When a person dies in a place which is not a house, or a dead body is found elsewhere than in a house, every relative of the deceased person having knowledge of any particulars required to be registered concerning the death, and every person present at the death, and every person taking charge of the body, and, if the death occurs in a ship or vessel the master or other person having charge of the ship or vessel, and the person causing the body to be buried must, within 24 hours after the death or finding of the body, give to the authorities such information that the informant has concerning the death that is required to be registered.Registration of Births and Deaths Act, s. 15(2).
Burial
The Choa Chu Kang Cemetery Complex is the only cemetery in Singapore still accepting burials. Others, such as Bidadari Cemetery,. have made way for redevelopment. Burials cost up to S$420 for children and $940 for adults. The complex is divided into cemeteries according to religion, and includes the Parsi, Jewish and Christian cemeteries.
On 1 November 1998, the NEA implemented a policy to limit the burial period of all graves to 15 years, due to a shortage of space in the cemeteries. After being buried for 15 years, graves are exhumed and the remains removed. If the religion of the deceased permits cremation, the exhumed remains are cremated and stored in government columbaria niches; otherwise, the remains are re-buried in smaller individual plots.
From 2017 onwards, as part of the expansion plans for Tengah Air Base, the cemetery will be reduced in size from 318ha to 100ha with around 80,500 Chinese and Muslim graves being exhumed.
Cremation
History