Source: Shin Min Daily News
A family in Singapore is accusing a monk of negligence after he allegedly wrote the wrong birthdate on their late mother’s spirit tablet, then allowed his female disciple to hurl vulgarities at them, including cursing the deceased to “descend to the 18th level of hell”.
The incident reportedly took place during funeral rites held for 70-year-old Madam Chen, who had passed away from a sudden heart attack on 10 July.
Ms Chen (surname transliterated), 50, told Shin Min Daily News that her mother’s sister insisted on engaging a monk she personally knew, despite the family having already arranged for a full funeral service package that included a monk.
Wanting to maintain peace, Ms Chen agreed to her aunt’s request. She even paid the originally scheduled monk a transport fee for turning back.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
She hoped the recommended monk would help her, her elderly father, and her two younger brothers send their mother off respectfully.
But the experience quickly soured.
Ms Chen claimed the monk appeared indifferent throughout the entire process, insisted on a seven-day funeral, and chanted sutras in a flat, dismissive tone.
Whenever the family asked questions, he allegedly brushed them off, calling their concerns “unimportant”.
Things escalated when the family noticed the monk had written the wrong birthdate on Madam Chen’s spirit tablet, writing “24 June” instead of her actual birthdate, “26 June”.
When Ms Chen confronted him about the mistake, a woman who claimed to be his disciple allegedly bombarded her with hostile voice messages.
In one recording heard by Shin Min, the woman allegedly cursed Ms Chen’s deceased mother, saying she should “descend to the 18th level of hell and never be reborn”.
When reporters contacted the monk for comment, he declined to speak, directing them instead to his disciple, a woman identified as “Cynthia” (name transliterated).
Cynthia claimed that the family had provided the wrong date, and the monk bore no responsibility for the error.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
She also insisted she only retaliated after Ms Chen insulted her, alleging: “It was her (Ms Chen) who first called me the master’s mistress, so I scolded her back.”
When pressed for further comment, she reportedly hung up the phone.
Ms Chen admitted to calling Cynthia a “mistress” — but only after hearing the woman insult her late mother.
She feels they should have simply admitted their mistakes and made amends instead of blaming and insulting her family.
According to Ms Chen, one of the ceremonies was supposed to take place after 11pm on the sixth night, but the monk performed it after the cremation.
She said the monk performed the ceremony too early in a brief one-hour ritual, upsetting even the funeral director.