Future residents of Fernvale Lea should be elated to know that their homes will no longer sport a dazzling top-of-the-line commercial columbarium in their backyard.
Ministry of National Development Khaw Boon Wan announced in Parliament that the controversial plans to erect a columbarium at the newly built Fernvale estate in Sengkang has been axed due to concerns that the company building it plans to run it commercially. "The Sengkang site is not intended for a commercial columbarium," Khaw asserts in his oral reply in Parliament. "HDB awarded the site to EPL (Eternal Pure Land Pte Ltd), under the impression that the company is a vehicle for a religious organisation to build and own a Chinese temple.
He maintains that the intent of a Chinese temple have been clearly stated in HDB's marketing brochures for Build To Order flats, in that they may provide an incidental columbarium service for their members and devotees. The company's plans for a commercial columbarium does not fall in line with HDB's places of worship, and Khaw is in talks with EPL to ensure that the land will be restored to the original plan of a Chinese temple.
Photo: Lam Pin Min Facebook page
Future residents of Fernvale Lea should be elated to know that their homes will no longer sport a dazzling top-of-the-line commercial columbarium in their backyard.
Ministry of National Development Khaw Boon Wan announced in Parliament that the controversial plans to erect a columbarium at the newly built Fernvale estate in Sengkang has been axed due to concerns that the company building it plans to run it commercially. "The Sengkang site is not intended for a commercial columbarium," Khaw asserts in his oral reply in Parliament. "HDB awarded the site to EPL (Eternal Pure Land Pte Ltd), under the impression that the company is a vehicle for a religious organisation to build and own a Chinese temple.
He maintains that the intent of a Chinese temple have been clearly stated in HDB's marketing brochures for Build To Order flats, in that they may provide an incidental columbarium service for their members and devotees. The company's plans for a commercial columbarium does not fall in line with HDB's places of worship, and Khaw is in talks with EPL to ensure that the land will be restored to the original plan of a Chinese temple.
Photo: Lam Pin Min Facebook page