Covid-19 took away his earnings, but one man found a new way to work at cemeteries this Hari Raya Puasa

SINGAPORE — Restrictions in place for the grave-visiting season during Hari Raya Puasa has made one service provider adapt quickly to the change. In doing so, Mr Rohaizat Roza, who was selling flowers, will now be spending Hari Raya cleaning graves.

The 31-year-old runs a flower kiosk by the roadside of the Pusara Aman Muslim cemetery in Lim Chu Kang. 

When the Government imposed a circuit breaker to limit movement of people from April 7 to curb the spread of Covid-19, including prohibiting all visits to cemeteries other than to attend a funeral, his income was cut off.

There were hardly any sales, so much so that he had to dump S$2,000 worth of flowers he had pre-ordered for the usually busy Hari Raya season. 

In March, the authorities already said that they were closing all government-managed columbaria at Chua Chu Kang, Mandai and Yishun on weekends and public holidays around the time when the Qing Ming festival — or the Chinese tomb-sweeping festival — was expected to peak in early April.

Ever enterprising, though, Mr Rohaizat was determined to find a solution. 

He came up with the idea of laying flowers and providing basic cleaning at graves on behalf of families who cannot be at the cemetery this Hari Raya and took the business online. 

“Since the circuit breaker was put in place, I have seen people coming to visit the graves of their loved ones, but they were not allowed in. So I was looking for ways I could help,” Mr Rohaizat said.

His efforts were highlighted by Mr Amrin Amin, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Home Affairs, who posted on his Facebook page to commend Mr Rohaizat’s “innovative and creative” response to the Covid-19 crisis.

Mr Amrin said that Mr Rohaizat wrote to him, and they then worked with the National Environment Agency (NEA), the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Dr Tan Wu Meng, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Trade and Industry, so that Mr Rohaizat may offer the new service.

Mr Amrin wrote on Facebook: “It is a tradition to visit the graves of our loved ones during Hari Raya, (but) because of Covid-19, grave visiting is not allowed, to restrict social congregation at cemeteries and so Rohaizat cannot sell (flowers) to anyone from the cemetery kiosk… He has a grave problem.”

Mr Rohaizat said that he is offering two types of services.

One is for those looking to lay flowers on graves and to change the cloth on tombstones. This will cost S$20.

Another is for those who want the grave and its parameters cleaned. This will cost S$10 to S$20, depending on how much work needs to be done.

Mr Rohaizat said that since Mr Amrin’s post, he has received 60 bookings and has yet to reply to about 400 more people who enquired about his services.

They get in touch with him through his own Facebook account under the name “Aaron Yang Mana”. On May 13, he published a post with information on the services on behalf of Leah Flower Delivery Service.

Ms Siti Sahidah Abdul Rahman Baikil, 28, owner of the flower kiosk and Mr Rohaizat’s employer, said that the number of bookings has been overwhelming, but they are grateful for the demand.

Ms Sahidah, who inherited the business from her late mother and whose role is to collect, arrange and pack flowers, said that she has brought in S$300 worth of flowers to cater to the new bookings, and may consider ordering more if the number of bookings increases.

The single mother to a pair of five-year-old twins and a three-year-old toddler added that she fully supports Mr Rohaizat’s move to take her business online, because her livelihood depends on their day-to-day profits at the kiosk.

FULFILLING WORK

When TODAY followed Mr Rohaizat on Friday (May 22) to fulfil the orders from customers, he drove around two Muslim cemeteries in Lim Chu Kang and took at least 15 minutes each time to find the location of each grave, based on the block and plot number given.

“The grave cleaning is not the most challenging part. Finding the graves is,” he said.

Every time he reached a grave, he would start to stamp loudly as he walked past the tall wild grass — his way of scaring away snakes — and he would also pull out weeds. Then he would use a mechanical grass cutter to trim the parameter of the grave before meticulously arranging flowers on it.

He said: “Once, I saw a big snake on the grave. I started to make noise and knocked a stick against some cement and it slithered away. That was why I started making a lot of noise wherever I go.”

After taking about 45 minutes to place flowers and clean each grave, he would take a picture of the completed work and send it to the customer for approval.

Asked if this is how he is going to spend his Hari Raya, Mr Rohaizat answered with a resounding yes.

“Customers put their trust in me to clean up the graves of their loved ones. If it requires me to work through Hari Raya to give them peace of mind, I would,” he said.

When the rain started to pour at about 3.30pm, Mr Rohaizat returned to the kiosk, where Ms Sahidah was still hard at work packing flowers.

He said: “In these difficult times, so many people are looking for services like these and I do not mind doing the work because I enjoy working in the cemetery.

“I think not a lot of people can say that.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ILI NADHIRAH MANSOR