Developing Funeral Professionals’ Capacity to Provide Grief and Loss Support: Challenges of Modernisation of Malaysian Chinese Funeral Directors

Abstract

This research aims to develop the ability of Malaysian Chinese funeral directors to offer grief and loss support to their clients. Providing support is now deemed essential due to the continual transformation of the funeral industry in response to the increased social awareness of life and death processes and a shift towards increasing input and demands from the bereaved regarding elements of the funeral ritual. Advances in the Malaysian Chinese funeral industry in recent years are evident and encouraging, yet comparatively less than those seen in the industry in the United Kingdom, United States, China and Taiwan. This is attributed to professional training carried out at the discretion of individual companies rather than coordinated bodies, and to lesser regulation of the industry in general. A greater understanding of the profession in Malaysia will help clarify current practices and the challenges necessary to underpin future interventions to foster increased professionalism and attend specifically to the needs of the Chinese funeral worker with regards to providing grief and loss support.