A grieving family in Singapore has spoken out against a monk they hired for funeral services, claiming he acted carelessly during the rites and even recorded the wrong birthdate on their late mother’s spirit tablet. To make matters worse, the monk’s female disciple allegedly unleashed a barrage of vulgarities and cursed the deceased to “descend to the 18th level of hell and never be reborn.”

The troubling episode unfolded following the passing of 70-year-old Madam Chen, who died of a sudden heart attack on 10 July. According to her daughter, Ms Chen, 50, the family had initially arranged for a full funeral package that included a monk. However, her aunt insisted on using a monk she personally knew. Out of respect and to keep peace, Ms Chen relented and paid a transport fee to the original monk to cancel, reported Shin Min Daily News.

Monk Accused of Rushing Rituals & Disrespecting Family Concerns

The family hoped this recommended monk would assist them in properly sending off their beloved matriarch. Instead, Ms Chen said the monk appeared disengaged, recited sutras in a disinterested tone, and insisted on a full seven-day funeral. When the family asked questions, he allegedly brushed them off, claiming their concerns were “not important.”

“descend to the 18th level of hell and never be reborn.”

The situation escalated when the family discovered a glaring error — the monk had written the wrong date of birth on Madam Chen’s spirit tablet, listing 24 June instead of 26 June. When Ms Chen confronted him, his female disciple, who identified herself as “Cynthia,” allegedly sent voice messages containing vulgar language and a curse directed at the deceased.

In recordings reportedly heard by Shin Min Daily News, Cynthia allegedly cursed Madam Chen, wishing her eternal suffering in the “18th level of hell.”

Disciples Deny Wrongdoing, Blame Family Instead

When contacted for comment, the monk declined to speak and redirected questions to Cynthia, who claimed the family was at fault for giving the wrong date. She also accused Ms Chen of insulting her first, allegedly calling her the monk’s “mistress.”

Cynthia justified her verbal attacks as retaliation, stating she only responded after being provoked. However, Ms Chen admitted she used the term “mistress” only after her late mother was insulted. She maintained the monk and his disciple should have taken responsibility for the error instead of escalating tensions.

Adding to the family’s frustration, Ms Chen said a key funeral ceremony, meant to be conducted after 11pm on the sixth night, was instead performed after the cremation, in a rushed one-hour session. Even the funeral director was reportedly upset by this change. The monk later told the family that this was simply his personal practice.

Payment Disputes & Spiritual Impact of Incorrect Tablet

There was also disagreement over payment. Ms Chen claimed the monk initially charged $300 per ceremony, later discounting it to $200 — a total of $1,400. He allegedly pressured the family to pay upfront, though Cynthia insisted that money was only collected post-ceremony.

Well-known Singaporean folklorist Tan Khoon Yong commented on the matter, noting that monks usually set the timing of rituals, and that families can carry out additional rites later if necessary. He also warned that an incorrect birth year on a spirit tablet may result in the deceased not receiving offerings. However, errors in the day or month could be corrected through another ritual.

Fortune-teller Xu Yiting added that while timing holds some traditional importance, sincerity during the ceremony matters more than strictly following customs.

This incident highlights how sensitive funeral proceedings can be — and the harm that may arise when spiritual leaders neglect their responsibilities, especially during such emotionally vulnerable times for families.

United States President Donald Trump has intensified his trade war tactics by imposing a hefty 25% additional tariff on Indian imports, bringing the total to 50% — one of the highest ever levied against a U.S. trade partner. The move is a direct response to India’s continued import of Russian oil, which the White House claims indirectly supports Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The executive order, issued on Aug. 6, comes just hours after Trump teased further secondary sanctions during a press briefing. He warned that more countries could soon face similar consequences for economic dealings with Russia, signalling a broader escalation of Washington’s global sanctions regime.

India, now lumped with Brazil in bearing the brunt of a 50% tariff, has hit back forcefully, calling the new measures “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”

India Vows to Defend National Interests

India’s Ministry of External Affairs expressed strong disapproval, citing the need to protect its national energy security and the interests of its 1.4 billion citizens. The ministry reiterated that oil imports are guided by market dynamics and should not be politicised.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also responded publicly, stating that Indian farmers remain a top priority, and that the government “will not compromise,” even if it means facing economic fallout. He described the decision as a strategic misjudgement by the U.S.

India currently imports around 88% of its crude oil, with Russian supplies making up a significant portion after global sanctions lowered Russian oil prices. Prior to 2021, Russia was a minor supplier, but now accounts for over 30% of India’s oil imports.

Trump Accuses India of Profiteering Off War

In a scathing post on Truth Social, Trump accused India of buying cheap Russian oil only to resell it for profit on global markets. He claimed India is enabling the Kremlin while ignoring the human toll in Ukraine. “They don’t care how many people are being killed,” he wrote, slamming India’s actions as morally indefensible.

Trump’s executive order, titled Addressing Threats to the United States by the Government of the Russian Federation, formally declares that any Indian imports into U.S. territory will be subjected to the enhanced 50% tariff. The new base rate is effective from Aug. 7, with the additional 25% kicking in from Aug. 27.

China Deal Looming Amid India Crackdown

Interestingly, Trump’s aggressive stance against India comes just as he announced the U.S. is close to finalising a new trade deal with China. He hinted at a possible meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping before year-end, contingent on progress in ongoing negotiations.

Analysts say the contrasting treatment of India and China may point to a calculated geopolitical pivot. As the U.S. seeks to secure favourable trade deals in Asia, India may be paying the price for straddling the fence on global sanctions.

Whether India will retaliate with its own trade restrictions or align further with BRICS allies remains to be seen — but one thing is certain: global trade tensions are heating up fast.

My wife poops in the shower and stomps it down the drain. Not a joke. She recently told me this and I’ve been living with it for weeks now.

She even broke the news to me while laughing about it. “You know what a waffle stomp is?”, she asked me as she laughed and laughed so hard she started crying!

I feel disgusted and betrayed. I can’t even look at her over breakfast anymore before I head off to work and while at work all I can do is wonder to myself, ‘is she doing it right now?’.

Apparently this has been going on for years! Says she uses all the scented candles she obsessively buys online to mask the smell.

I work long hours so plenty of time to cover her shit stink. A few times we’ve had to snake the drain due to a clog.

Now I know why. I’m not sure I can live this life anymore

Netizens’ comments

• She knows that shower pipes aren’t designed for that right??

• I’m assuming you still shower in the same shower as her and I just have to say that you’re braver than an army soldier.

• Goes thru the drain like one of those old play-doh spaghetti makers

Hey there, I don’t use Facebook much and am typing on my phone so forgive the formatting.

I (20f) have been seeing this guy (23m) for about 4 to 5 months now. When we first started seeing each other we both agreed not to see anyone else, we both really enjoyed each other’s company and wanted to see where this would go between us. I told him I wanted to wait 3 months minimum before anything was made official

In the beginning, it was great we were both really excited about each other and what we would be doing in our future together. We were both planning on moving together at the end of the year for different reasons but it just so happened we were planning it for the same time.

He initially offered for us to find a place together which I was a little nervous about at first as we hadn’t been seeing each other that long at this point but I was also really excited about it because I was really starting to care about him.

Fast forward a month until we both moved, I told him I needed to have a frank discussion with him about what this was, we had been seeing each other exclusively for the last few months and everything was great so I figured the next step was to have that “what is this” conversation.

Well it didn’t go how I thought it would, he said he didn’t want to label anything. Yes he was really enjoying spending time with me and acting like a couple but he didn’t want to officially say we were a couple. Not gonna lie this upset me, I thought that what we had was more on the serious side and hearing that he didn’t actually wanna make anything official did sting.

He basically said why does it matter if we make it official, we act like a couple so what’s the problem. I said because it’s confusing to me. We act like a couple but I’m introduced to his friends as a friend or just [my name]. It’s not about the title or what other people think its a clarification for me that this is what I think it is and what I want it to be. I said if we act like a couple then what’s the problem with making it official, what would it change. He didnt agree and then opened up that because of his last relationship (6 years, broke up about a year ago) he has commitment issues. He doesn’t wanna rush into anything and wants to make sure that when he comits again he’s really sure about it. I understand this and respect it but also don’t think it’s fair on me. He also told me he didn’t think he was ready to move in with a partner yet, he told me he didn’t know how to bring it up because he felt like he was stringing me along, saying we could do that and then backing out when it came to it.

Again totally understandable we had only been seeing each other a couple of months and I had alternatives for movin. I appreciated the honesty about it and just needed to know where we stood.

Since I have tried talking to him about it since but he gives me the same answers so I’m at a loss. I do t wanna walk away because I do really care about him but I also feel I’m doing my self a dis service by putting up with this. I just need some friendly ish advice, please don’t be to harsh. 

I dated this older guy (34yo and I’m 27) for a few months and he lived at my place. He still paid for his rent at his place, but he stayed with me because I live in 2 bedder apartment by myself. We did house chores equally. The only exception was laundry, I agreed to do the laundry, ironing and putting back clothes to the closet. I didn’t mind it because I’m pretty particular with separating laundry as well as ironing every single thing including bed sheets and quilt covers. It’s a little too much, but I grew up in a family that does it and I am not asking anyone to help me do it.

One time I was on call for a week, so I decided to sleep on the sofa in the second bedroom so that I wouldn’t wake him up every time I get a call.

I just changed the bed sheet and the quilt cover earlier that week and hadn’t slept on it ever since. One night before bed, I came to him to say goodnight and I saw the quilt was very crumpled and the bed was messy. So I scolded him for making it messy.

He then joked around and wrapped himself with the blanket and rolled with it all over the bed. I was annoyed and said “fine you can do that as long as you iron it tomorrow”.

He got mad immediately because of what I said and said “if you ask me to iron, then I don’t want to sleep here anymore!”. I was taken aback by what he said, but because it was already late I cut it short and just say good night and went to the other room.

In the morning, he woke me up to ask if I wanted to go to the park with my dog. I was still pissed so I told him that what he said last night was childish as I spent hours ironing the bed sheets and quilt covers and all I asked was for him to be considerate and not make it crumpled on purpose; but instead of saying sorry, he threatened to not stay with me anymore.

After I finished my sentences, he threatened to leave again for the same reason, “if I can’t roll on the bed, I cannot stay here anymore”. And then he insisted that we need to discuss about the rolling on the bed rules because he still wanted to do it (btw we were already living together for 5 months and this was never an issue).

And he also said he was not gonna comply with my request because then I’m changing him as a person. he said that we were just different, he’s just the kind of person that likes to roll on his bed, and if he can’t have that he’s not going to be happy.

FYI, I never mind it if the bed gets messy when he sleeps, it’s something that he can’t control. I’m also okay if he rolls as long as he doesn’t wrap himself in the blanket when he does it. The thing that I’m most troubled with is the fact that he doesn’t appreciate the effort I put in to make the bed feels nice to sleep in and his response to the request that I think is rational, which is not to roll around intentionally to make it all crumpled, is just ridiculous.

It’s just something that I would never imagine fighting about with an adult.

I hate my life. I hate my kid. I resent my family. I resent my inlaws. I resent my wife. I hate myself.

I never wanted kids, but was never adamantly against having one. I get married. My wife knows how I feel about kids. When we were engaged – my answer was “maybe one, definitely not more.”

As my friends started having kids, I started leaning heavily against having kids. Some parents had good kids. Some parents had bad kids. Even the easy kids looked like too much work.

Queue my wife’s sister dying. All of a sudden “family” is SUPER important to my wife. I get that.

At this point my answer to kids was still no. My wife bothered me and bothered and bothered me. Eventually I was convinced. The deal was her parents would come live near us.

I was convinced. I was so dumb. I was told not to worry about all the realities of having a kid and losing my life – because grandma and grandpa are nearby and would be all the parents baby ever needed. Since my wife’s sister died – she was the only hope for grandkids.

My wife and her parents worked me over so good. They convinced me. They made good points. My wife’s parents were in their 50’s and good health – they would be here “beyond the baby phase” and “would have enough energy to keep up with a kid”.

I’m shown enough Disney movies and Kodak moment and am promised that I just have to be a good dad and provider. A 1950’s dad if you will – one where the mom unfairly does all the hard stuff. All the good and no bad? Cool – fine by me.

Well here we are, 11 years later. My kid has “ODD” which is pretty much alphabet soup for your kid being mean and defiant. Nothing else is wrong with them – the diagnosis is literally that they are vindictive and cruel and seek conflict. Not because they can’t communicate or are hypsersensitive to stimuli – but just because.

Guess what? Grandma and grandpa say the kid is “too much”. They haven’t helped for more than a day a month in almost 7 years.

I came home from work to my son spitting on the neighbors doorknob – his reason “get the neighbors sick”. Why does he want them sick? His amazon package got delivered to their house in the morning and they waited until evening to give it to him.

Well in returning for telling him not to do that, my son went into the attic and peed all over the box of memorabilia I have from my parents – who both died before I was 20.

I left the house and am sitting in my car. I don’t know if I’m coming back.

And I don’t want advice. This isn’t “lack of discipline” or “bad parenting”. I’ve read every book. I’ve worked shifts 6 days a week for a decade to pay for tens of thousands (probably 100,000’s) of therapy, behaviorists, counseling, classes. You name it.

At the end of the day, it is my fault. I am so spineless. I knew I didn’t want kids. I was convinced, because, well, I’m a jellyfish. And here I am. 45 years old, crying in my car.

My advice to other men and women out there: only have a kid if you 1000% want them. Don’t listen to others when they say they’ll “help”. They’ll help if you have a happy, bubbly easy-going kid. Not if you spawned the devil himself.

How do you guys afford dating in SG?

For backgrounds context, 23M in uni GF is 23 F full time working.

My gf have been keep asking me to buy her expensive stuff like Dior perfumes, LV bags etc. I have entertained her whims for quite a while. I have footed almost every bill when we have a date out. She always want to eat at those cafes that cost u 80-100 bucks per meal.

Although she didn’t really demand stuff like forcing me to buy etc, she will try to guilt trip me buy sending me all those articles, insta posts, tik tok and YT vids of how other boyfriends are spoiling their gfs with luxurious gifts and how they are treating them as queens by treating them to Hai Di Lao and stuff.

I mean I bought her a Mac before and treated her mookata and other buffet too. But everytime we go out for a date, I am the only one spending for both of us.

Is this normal? She will usually say it’s a guy’s job to treat the girl and foot ll the bills but I think it’s getting out of hand.

I came from a well to do family so.i.can afford more than other people but that doesn’t mean I have spend on everything right?

What are your thoughts and to those who are in rs, how do y’all cope?

I love her and I dw to say I don’t have money or dw to spend which will make me look bad and she might leave

EDIT: I suggested splitting the bill but she said it’s a turn off for her.

Netizens comments

1. Sounds like she’s using you instead
2. Depends on how hot she is, and if she is traditional, if she wants you to be traditional and pay for everything, she has to be traditional as well, stay home, cook for you, do chores etc.
3. I ain’t saying she a gold digger
   • Well I’ll say it then. She’s a gold digger.