By Crystal Chan and Bryna Sim

FOR all her wealth and social standing, Mrs Erma Sutandi, 88, was laid to rest in a hush-hush affair yesterday.

The matriarch of a Chinese Indonesian family was the centre of a dispute among her 11 children over whether to bury her in Singapore or in her hometown of Bandung.

Her funeral on Tuesday was postponed after family members opposing her burial here used two cars to block the hearse from leaving Mount Vernon Funeral Parlours.

Yesterday, her second son, Mr Andreas Lukman, decided at the last minute to carry out the burial at Choa Chu Kang Chinese Cemetery.

He was apparently worried that his eldest brother, Andy, and five other siblings, might disrupt the funeral again.

His decision was so sudden that none of Mrs Sutandi's 10 other children was present to send her casket off, observed The New Paper yesterday.

Even the undertaker was taken by surprise.

An executive at Direct Singapore Funeral Services, said: "Mr Andreas Lukman told us sometime after 10am that he wanted her buried today. He didn't want to wait any longer lest his siblings make trouble again."

The executive, who declined to be named, said in Mandarin: "Unlike cremations which must be done at reserved time slots, burials can be done at the family's convenience."

Worried

A family member had previously told The New Paper that six of Mrs Sutandi's children had obtained a court order to prevent her body from being removed until an amicable settlement was reached.

When contacted, the family's lawyers declined to verify whether there was such a court order.

The funeral services executive said: "Yesterday morning, the warring parties had a meeting in the office of the opposing side's lawyer.

They reached an agreement to bury Mrs Sutandi in Singapore.

"But Mr Lukman was still worried that his opposing siblings would change their minds and make trouble.

"So immediately after the resolution was reached, Mr Lukman instructed us to proceed with the burial. None of the siblings in the opposing camp was informed about it."

The funeral was carried out while the eldest son, MrAndy Lukman, a pastor, had returned to Indonesia yesterday morning to settle some urgent matters.

Instead of a grand send-off befitting Mrs Sutandi's age and status, her Taoist funeral was more like a stealth operation.

In such funerals, the casket is carried by pallbearers, usually made up of family and friends, in a procession from the funeral parlour to the main road where it is loaded onto the hearse.

In Mrs Sutandi's case, her coffin loaded by the undertaker's staff onto the hearse, which was parked just outside the funeral parlour.

The only other people present were Mr Lukman and the media.

The executive said: "One of Mrs Sutandi's daughters wanted to come but she was late and Mr Lukman didn't want to delay the burial."

It costs about $1,000 for each day the body remains in the funeral parlour. Mr Lukman, a businessman, followed the hearse in a car driven by a friend.

The 40-seater bus provided by Direct Singapore Funeral Services to ferry mourners to the cemetery was empty, except for the driver and three workers.

Mr Lukman also hired two bodyguards to prevent outsiders from entering the funeral parlour.

The executive said: "The bodyguards have been here since Monday to prevent any fights. Mr Lukman doesn't welcome any publicity."

Mr Lukman's friend, who declined to give us his name, said they had known each other for over 40years.

The friend, who was present at the funeral, was abroad when Mrs Sutandi died and found out about her death and the dispute in the newspapers yesterday.

He said Mr Lukman contacted him for help after he returned to Singapore. He drove Mr Lukman around and he also lent him a comforting shoulder.

Mr Lukman was determined to avoid the media. He shielded his face with a piece of paper throughout the hour-long burial.

When The New Paper asked him why his siblings were not present for the last rites, he ignored us and quickly got into his friend's car and left.

This article was first published in The New Paper.