Memorialisation in Malaysia used to be the local government’s affairs, and where non-Muslims are concerned, major part of the work to develop, manage and operate cemeteries were delegated to clan associations and religious organisations. This has changed substantially since 35 years ago when privately owned memorial parks, some incorporated crematorium within, start to appear.

In Malaysia, burial into and exhumation of human remains from burial ground, as well as crematorium operations are governed as part of community needs in town planning, and are regulated by local authorities. Hence the very basic regulatory framework can be found in the Local Government Act 1976 (“the Act”), specifically sections 94 to 100.

Licence or Permission to Use

Section 94 of the Act provides that registered proprietor of a place to be used as burial grounds or crematorium (such places are hereinafter referred to as “Designated Use”) will require permission (subsection (1)) or licence (subsection (2)) from the local authority.

Section 95 of the Act provides that any person guilty of an offence in contravention of Section 94 shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding RM1000 or to imprisonment of not exceeding 6 months or both. Local authority may also order for removal of corpse or remains of the corpse or to remove any structure erected and restore the ground to its original state, failing which the person is also guilty of an offence with similar penalty as stated above.

Section 96 of the Act provides that local authority may order the places for Designated Use to be closed or may revoke licence thereof if the places for Designated Use :-
(a) … is in such a state as to be dangerous to the health of the persons living in the neighbourhood;
(b) … (i) is noxious or offensive or unfit for use for the Designated Use; (ii) cannot be further used for the Designated Use without danger to the public health; or (iii) is being used in contravention of the conditions of the licence.

Burial Permit

All burial, be it for burial of corpse in the ground (interment) or placement of urns containing cremated remains (inurnment), can only be carried out with a proper burial permit issued by the local authority. A burial permit is not to be mistaken as death certificate which is issued upon demise of the deceased, commonly certifying the cause of death as well.

Logically, issuance of burial permits (if controlled tightly) enables the local governments to keep track of who have been buried at which specific burial ground. This will provide valuable data to the local governments in planning for burial needs of their respective community. However, at least for the non-Muslim population, we have yet to see that local governments strictly compel a deceased living in a locality to be permitted burial only within that State or that Municipality.

Exhumation Order

Section 97 of the Act provides that exhumation of any corpse or the remains of any corpse can be carried out with licence from the local authority or by order of Magistrates Court for the purpose of a judicial enquiry. However, Section 97 also provides that no exhumation licence shall be granted where :-
(a) cause of death was an infectious disease as defined in any written law relating to quarantine and the prevention of diseases; or
(b) in the case of corpse buried for less than 5 years unless the local authority is satisfied that there are special reasons requiring exhumation.

Any person guilty of an offence is liable to fine not exceeding RM5000 or imprisonment not exceeding 1 year or both.

It would appear that local government allows application for exhumation order to be made by any family member. It is unclear whether any form of control or verifications are in place other than the usual application conditions in the forms prescribed by the local governments.

Register of Persons

Section 99 of the Act provides that the owner of the burial ground and crematorium shall keep a register (name, sex, age, religion, residence, cause of death) of every person whose body is brought to such burial ground or crematorium. Local authority may inspect and make copies of such register. Any person guilty of an offence shall be liable to fine not exceeding RM500,000 or imprisonment of not exceeding 3 months or both.

There have been instances where foreigners’ families initiated search effort for their family members who have gone missing during their stay in Malaysia. Embassies have written to memorial parks to locate the whereabouts of their nationals on suspicion that their nationals have already passed away.

The author advocates that burial of foreign subjects in Malaysia must be justified with legal grounds to prevent abuse of scarce and expensive land resources, knowing that in places like Singapore and Hong Kong, burial ground or even a crematorium space is hard come by or is available at very high price. it is also advisable for crematorium, cemeteries and memorial parks operators to notify the embassies concerned when their citizens have been cremated in the crematorium, and/or buried in the cemeteries or memorial parks here.

Cause of death

Cause of death is one of the data required to be kept in the register, as provided in Section 99 of the Act. This is particularly crucial where the cause of death is criminal in nature, or is due to some infectious diseases.

From the COVID-19 pandemic, it is noted that the Ministry of Health have tight control on the disposal of bodies of COVID-19. The bodies were concealed in multiple layer of body bags within the hospitals by MOH personnel and with the help of Islam affairs department JAIS and/or private funeral undertakers are sent straight to crematorium or burial ground.

Full body burial for COVID-19 victims is still permitted in Malaysia with very basic religious rituals performed, as specialists have advised that the COVID-19 virus is no longer infectious after the demise of the host body. Nevertheless, extra precaution should still be practised by operators of crematorium or burial grounds to ensure no hazard is posed to other user of such facility.