Choa Chu Kang Columbarium is one of two columbaria managed by the National Environment Agency. It is at 51 Chinese Cemetery Path 4, Singapore 698932, and the NEA hotline for it is 6225 5632.
That is the answer most people arrive looking for. The rest of this page covers the part that causes more trouble: Choa Chu Kang has several separate death-care facilities on nearby roads with similar names, and families routinely turn up at the wrong one. It also covers the booking rules, the opening hours, the fees, and the one rule that means a niche here cannot be arranged in advance. Every figure is as published by NEA.
The addresses, because they are genuinely confusing
Four different places in Choa Chu Kang do four different things. Going to the wrong one costs a morning.
| Facility | Address | What happens there |
|---|---|---|
| Choa Chu Kang Columbarium | 51 Chinese Cemetery Path 4, Singapore 698932 | Niche booking and storage of ashes |
| Ash Collection Centre, Choa Chu Kang Crematorium | 960 Old Choa Chu Kang Road, Singapore 699818 | Collecting ashes after cremation |
| Choa Chu Kang Cemetery Complex | Choa Chu Kang Cemetery, off Old Choa Chu Kang Road | Burials, and the cemetery office counter |
| Garden of Peace | Within Choa Chu Kang Cemetery | Inland ash scattering |
Note also that the numbers on Old Choa Chu Kang Road are not interchangeable. 960 is the Ash Collection Centre. Nirvana Memorial Garden is a private facility at a different address on the same road. If someone has given you a number over the phone, confirm which facility it belongs to before travelling.
Opening and booking hours
Niche booking hours
These apply to niche booking at all government columbaria, Choa Chu Kang included.
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Monday to Friday | 8.30am to 4.30pm, closed for lunch 1.00pm to 2.00pm |
| Saturday | 8.30am – 12.30pm |
| Sunday | Niche booking not available |
Ash Collection Centre hours, and the change that catches people
The Ash Collection Centre at Choa Chu Kang Crematorium, 960 Old Choa Chu Kang Road, opens Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm with a lunch closure from 1pm to 2pm. It is closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
That weekend closure took effect on 1 February 2025. Families who collected ashes at Choa Chu Kang before that date, or who were told by a relative how it used to work, still arrive on a Saturday. If a weekend collection is unavoidable, the Ash Collection Centre at Mandai Crematorium, 300 Mandai Road, Singapore 779393, opens Monday to Sunday 8.30am to 4.30pm with the same lunch closure.
Ash scattering at the Garden of Peace
The Garden of Peace within Choa Chu Kang Cemetery accepts inland ash scattering from 9am to 5pm daily. Booking is through the NEA ePortal or in person at the Mandai Crematorium Office or the Choa Chu Kang Cemetery Office, and payment is made at the service counters before the service. Only fine ashes may be scattered at the gardens, so cremated remains need processing into fine ashes first, which is arranged at the Ash Collection Centres. NEA also conducts periodic ash soil transfer at the Garden of Peace and the Garden of Serenity, moving accumulated ash soil to a designated location within the Garden of Peace so the lanes stay available for continued use.
What a niche here costs
NEA publishes one fee schedule for all government columbaria, so Choa Chu Kang and Mandai charge the same.
| Item | Fee | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Standard niche | $500 | Around 2 urns |
| Family niche | $900 | Around 4 urns |
| Selection fee | $250 | Charged only if you decline the niche allocated to you |
| Inland ash scattering booking fee | $320 | Garden of Peace |
Our guide to columbarium niches in Singapore covers what these fees buy and how private columbaria compare.
How niches are allocated, and why you cannot book ahead
Sequential allocation
Niches at government columbaria are allocated sequentially. You are given the next niche in the sequence rather than choosing from what is available. If you want a different location, higher, lower, or beside a relative already interred, the selection fee is $250.
No advance booking
No advance booking of niches is allowed. A niche at Choa Chu Kang cannot be reserved before a death, cannot be bought as part of a pre-need arrangement, and cannot be guaranteed to be next to anyone. The booking happens after the cremation.
This is the single most important thing to know about this facility, and it is why families who specifically want to be placed together, or want to see and choose a location in advance, look at private columbaria instead. Our advance planning checklist sets out what can and cannot be settled ahead of time, and our pre-planning page covers the alternative.
Booking a niche: what to bring
Bookings can be made through the NEA ePortal or in person at the service counters. You will need:
- The deceased’s details, evidenced by the digital death certificate, a stillbirth certificate, or a hospital memo in the case of a foetus
- The Application for Cremation at an NEA-managed crematorium, or the Cremation Permit if a private crematorium was used
- Proof of identity of the applicant, such as NRIC or passport
- A Letter of Authorisation, if the applicant is not a next-of-kin
- A Letter of Undertaking, where applicable
Payment is due when the booking is confirmed, and NEA accepts NETS, Cash Card over the counter, and credit card. There is no cash option listed, which is worth knowing before you travel.
The plaque
Only registered contractors may do the work
At NEA-managed facilities, next-of-kin must engage only contractors registered with NEA for niche plaque work. This is a condition of using the facility rather than advice. Ask any contractor to confirm their registration before agreeing anything.
What usually goes on it
Name, dates, commonly a photograph, and often Chinese characters or a religious symbol. Conventions differ between traditions, and our comparison of Buddhist and Christian funerals covers where they diverge. Verify the inscription before it is cut, because it is permanent.
Getting the ashes to the columbarium
The order of events
- The death is certified and the funeral director applies for the Permit to Cremate
- The cremation is booked and takes place
- The ashes are collected at an Ash Collection Centre, on a later date rather than the same day
- An urn is chosen
- The niche is booked and the urn placed
Our guides to the cremation process in Singapore, what happens after cremation and cremation urns cover each stage. The urn point matters here: the niche has fixed internal dimensions, so ask for them before buying.
Where the cremation happens
There are four crematoria in Singapore. The two government ones are Mandai Crematorium and Mandai North Crematorium, both charging $100 for an adult and $50 for a child under 10. The two private ones are Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery at 88 Bright Hill Road, at $327 for cremation only inclusive of GST, and Tse Tho Aum Temple at 601 Sin Ming Drive, at $436 on the same basis.
If you are dealing with a burial instead
Choa Chu Kang is the only cemetery still open
Choa Chu Kang Cemetery Complex is the only cemetery in Singapore open for burials. Bookings for burial are made over the phone or in person at the service counters, and the burial fee for the grave plot is paid at the counters before the burial.
| Burial, citizen or permanent resident | Adults and children 10+ | Children under 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Muslim, Ahmadiyya Jama’at, Jewish, Parsi and Bahai cemeteries | $315 | $140 |
| All other government cemeteries | $940 | $420 |
| Non-citizen, non-permanent-resident | $1,880 | $940 |
Foreigners may be buried in Singapore only if the deceased has immediate next-of-kin, meaning parents, spouse or children only, who are Singapore citizens or permanent residents, and prior written permission must be obtained from NEA.
The 15-year rule
Since 1 November 1998 the burial period for all graves has been limited to 15 years. At the end of 15 years the graves are exhumed. Where the religion permits cremation, the exhumed remains are cremated and stored in a columbarium niche. Where burial is mandated by religion, the remains are re-buried in smaller individual plots.
This is why Choa Chu Kang Columbarium and Choa Chu Kang Cemetery are connected in practice as well as geographically: a burial here now becomes a niche here later. Our pages on the Choa Chu Kang cemetery burial guide, why exhumation is required, the exhumation process, exhumation costs and applying for the NEA exhumation permit cover what follows, and night exhumation rituals covers the observances many Chinese families keep. Families still choosing should read the cremation and burial comparison and religious views on cremation first.
Visiting
Ordinary visits
Visiting a niche is separate from booking one, and the hours above are booking hours. Confirm visiting access directly with NEA on 6225 5632 if you are planning a trip outside office hours.
Qing Ming
Choa Chu Kang is busy during Qing Ming, and access, parking and queueing all change. Check NEA’s announcements for the year before going, and expect the trip to take substantially longer than a normal visit. Families who hold both a niche and an ancestral tablet usually combine the two into one journey, and our pages on ancestral tablets in Singapore, tablet placement and ancestral pedestals cover the tablet side.
Feng shui and niche position
Where families consult a geomancer on position, the $250 selection fee is what makes acting on that advice possible at a government columbarium. Our page on feng shui in Singapore funerals covers the practice.
Finding a family niche nobody recorded
Why this happens so often
A niche outlives the person who booked it, and the paperwork usually does not survive the same length of time. Families discover, a generation later, that a grandparent is somewhere in Choa Chu Kang and nobody wrote down where. This is one of the most common enquiries any columbarium receives.
What NEA can work from
A name and an approximate year of death is usually enough for NEA to search its records. The hotline for Choa Chu Kang Columbarium is 6225 5632. Bring identification, and bring whatever documentation the family holds, even if it looks irrelevant: an old receipt, a contractor’s invoice for a plaque, or a temple record often carries the reference number that shortens the search to minutes.
Relocation programmes complicate it
Niches are not always where the family last left them. NEA has run relocation programmes, including the Mount Vernon Columbarium re-location programme, and Choa Chu Kang Cemetery has its own exhumation programme. A niche or grave that a family remembers at one facility may have been moved under a programme years ago. NEA holds the record of where remains went, which is another reason to start with the hotline rather than with a physical search.
Recording it properly this time
Once you have found it, write down the facility, the block or hall, the row and the niche number, the contractor who did the plaque, and the date of death in both calendars if the family observes the lunar anniversary. Keep that with the will. Our advance planning checklist covers the full set of records worth leaving.
Getting there, and the practical notes
The area
The death-care facilities in Choa Chu Kang sit together in the west of Singapore, away from the residential town centre, on and around Old Choa Chu Kang Road and the cemetery paths that run off it. Public transport reaches the general area but not always the specific facility gate, and the walk between facilities is longer than a map suggests.
Plan for the lunch closure
Both the niche booking counters and the Ash Collection Centre close from 1pm to 2pm. Arriving at 12.50pm for a booking that takes twenty minutes means waiting until 2pm. Given the travel time to the area, this is worth building into the plan rather than discovering.
What cannot be done online
Niche booking and cremation booking can be done through the NEA ePortal. Burial bookings, by contrast, are made over the phone or in person, and the burial fee is paid at the service counters before the burial. Cancellations and changes to any confirmed booking must be made in person by the applicant or a next-of-kin, with the relevant documents. That in-person requirement for changes is the one families most often assume they can handle by phone.
Government columbarium or private
The honest summary is that Choa Chu Kang offers a permanent niche at a published, low, fixed fee, and does not offer choice of location without a surcharge, advance reservation, or a guarantee of placement beside a relative. Private columbaria cost more and offer those things. Neither is the right answer for every family.
What is worth avoiding is deciding this at the Ash Collection Centre on the day. Our pages on funeral costs in Singapore, what funeral packages include and how to choose a funeral service cover the comparison, and the ash disposition guide covers the alternatives to a niche entirely.
If a death has just occurred
The columbarium is several steps away. Start with what to do when someone passes away in Singapore, then the funeral process. Traditions are covered in our Buddhist and Taoist funeral guide and guide to Taoist funerals, and the observances that follow in the 49-day and 100-day mourning periods.
Speaking to someone
For Choa Chu Kang Columbarium itself, NEA is the authority: 6225 5632. If you want to compare a government niche against a private one before deciding, or you need help working out which facility holds an existing family niche, Nirvana Memorial Garden can help.
Call +65 6363 6363 or email contact@nirvanasingapore.sg.
Addresses, opening hours, fees and rules on this page are as published by the National Environment Agency at the time of writing. Hours in particular have changed recently, including the Choa Chu Kang Ash Collection Centre weekend closure from 1 February 2025. Confirm current details with NEA on 6225 5632 before travelling.
