VJGM provides free funeral management services

GUA MUSANG - For the past three years, Persatuan Van Jenazah Gua Musang (VJGM) has managed 666 bodies in this district and other locations around Kelantan, all for free.

VJGM chairman Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani said the ‘fardu kifayah’ (communal obligation) task was carried out to help lessen the burden of families that could not afford the funeral costs of their loved ones.

He said VJGM was founded in 2020 and now has 38 volunteers, the majority of whom are teenagers as young as 16 years old. "We provide free services beginning with bathing, shrouding, and sending the body (to the cemetery).

"The most distant location we have travelled to was Sungai Golok in Rantau Panjang, near the Thai border, to send the remains of a Covid-19 patient,” he said when met by reporters at the Tengku Razaleigh Mosque, Bandar Lama, here.

According to Mohd Azmawi Fikri, VJGM has three types of multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs), namely the Toyota Alphard, Naza Ria and Kia, which were used as the hearses.

"We operate 24 hours a day without pay and rely on donations from the public. Every day we receive donations that will be used to provide funeral management services,” he said.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old volunteer Siti Syairah Mohd Dusuki said she learned the ins and outs of handling corpses after joining VJGM which has advisors with more than 20 years of experience in the field.

She admitted that handling corpses initially made her anxious, but she now relishes the task.

"...I am humbled to be able to ease the burden of the bereaved family members,” said Siti Syairah who has managed more than 200 bodies since last year. - BERNAMA