An obituary is usually booked within a day of a death, by someone who has never booked one before and has a funeral to arrange at the same time. The process is more time-sensitive than most families expect, and missing a cut-off by an hour costs real money.
Here is how placement works, what the deadlines are, and what to have ready before you call.
Seven newspapers carry obituaries
SPH Media runs the obituary section across its titles, so one booking route covers all of them:
- The Straits Times and The Sunday Times
- Lianhe Zaobao and Shin Min Daily News
- Berita Harian and Berita Minggu
- Tamil Murasu
Which paper you choose is a question of who needs to see it. Families often pick the language the deceased’s own generation reads, which is not always the language spoken at home now. Many place in two titles, one English and one Chinese, so that both older relatives and younger colleagues see the notice.
Placing in more than one paper means paying for each insertion separately.
The deadline is 11.59am, and the booking closes earlier
This is the part that catches people out.
| Publication day | Copy deadline |
|---|---|
| Tuesday to Saturday | 11.59am on the eve of publication |
| Sunday and Monday | 11.59am on Friday |
So a notice appearing on Wednesday needs copy in by late Tuesday morning. A notice for Sunday or Monday has to be in by Friday morning, which means a Saturday death often cannot appear until Tuesday unless you move quickly.
The booking deadline sits one hour earlier than the copy deadline. Booking and copy can both be submitted by email to sphobit@sph.com.sg, including on weekends and public holidays.
What being late actually costs
Late copy is charged at a minimum of $50 or 5% of the ad cost, whichever is higher, capped at $800. Material submitted more than an hour after the deadline is charged double that surcharge.
There is one more charge worth knowing: material not submitted electronically attracts a $500 handling fee per advertisement, and has to be in at least two clear working days before the insertion date. In practice this means send the file, do not hand in a printout.
Size, and why it drives the price
Obituaries are sold by size, so the length of what you write and whether you include a photograph determine the cost more than anything else.
| Publication | Size range | Minimum text size |
|---|---|---|
| The Straits Times, The Sunday Times | 3cm to 54cm | 7pt |
| Berita Harian, Berita Minggu | 3cm to 33cm | 7pt |
| Lianhe Zaobao, Shin Min Daily News | 5cm to 54cm | 9pt |
| Tamil Murasu | 6cm to 54cm | 10pt |
Width is set in columns: one column is 3.7cm, two is 7.9cm, three is 12.0cm, four is 16.2cm, and a full eight columns is 32.7cm.
A short notice at the minimum height in one or two columns is the cheapest option. A large notice with a photograph across several columns is considerably more. SPH Media does not publish its obituary rates, so the only way to get a figure is to ask when booking, or to let a funeral director quote it as part of a package. Treat any specific price you find quoted online as out of date.
If you are including a photograph, it needs to be 200 dpi, in CMYK for colour, and uncompressed. A phone photo forwarded over a chat app is usually too compressed to print well.
What to have ready before booking
Gather these first and the call takes minutes rather than an afternoon:
- Full name of the deceased, including the name relatives would recognise
- Dates of birth and death, and age
- Names of surviving family members, in the order the family wants them listed
- Wake location, dates and daily timing
- Date, time and place of the funeral or cremation
- A photograph, if using one, at print resolution
The family list is the part that takes longest, because the order matters to relatives and because someone always has to be phoned to check a spelling. Draft it before you book, not while on the line.
What to do when someone passes away covers the steps that come before this one, and funeral arrangements in Singapore covers the details you will need for the notice itself.
What the notice actually says
Most obituaries follow the same shape, and there is no requirement to be original. A typical notice opens with the name and age, states the date of death, lists surviving family, then gives the wake and funeral details. Anything beyond that is optional.
Two decisions cause most of the hesitation. The first is how to describe the death itself. “Peacefully”, “suddenly” and simply stating the date are all common, and none is more correct than the others; families who are unsure usually give the date and leave it there. The second is how far the family list extends. Immediate family is the minimum, but many Singaporean families list grandchildren and in-laws, and the notice grows accordingly. Because size drives the cost, that list is where a short notice quietly becomes a long one.
A useful discipline is to write the notice first, in full, before asking about price. It is far easier to trim a draft than to write to an unknown budget. Planning a funeral in Singapore covers how the notice fits alongside the other arrangements being made the same week.
Online notices are a separate thing
Newspaper obituaries and online memorial pages serve different purposes. The print notice is what tells a wide, older audience quickly. An online page stays up, takes condolence messages, and can be shared by link, which the print notice cannot.
Some families do both, some skip print entirely. If nobody in the deceased’s circle reads a newspaper, print may be an expense without an audience.
For the timeline a notice has to fit around, the funeral process in Singapore sets out the order things happen in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which newspapers publish obituaries in Singapore?
SPH Media carries obituaries in The Straits Times, The Sunday Times, Lianhe Zaobao, Shin Min Daily News, Berita Harian, Berita Minggu and Tamil Murasu. Each insertion is charged separately, so placing in two papers costs two placements.
What is the deadline for an obituary notice?
Copy is due at 11.59am on the eve of publication for Tuesday to Saturday editions, and at 11.59am on Friday for Sunday and Monday editions. The booking deadline is one hour earlier than the copy deadline.
How much does an obituary cost in Singapore?
SPH Media does not publish obituary rates, so the price has to be quoted at booking. Cost is driven by size, which depends on the length of the notice, the number of columns, and whether a photograph is included. Late copy adds a surcharge of $50 or 5% of the ad cost, whichever is higher, up to $800.
Can I submit an obituary at the weekend?
Yes. Booking and copy can be sent to sphobit@sph.com.sg on weekends and public holidays. The Friday 11.59am deadline still applies for Sunday and Monday publication.
If you are working against a deadline today, the single most useful thing to do first is write the family list and check the spellings. Everything else in the booking can be answered from documents you already have; that list is the only part that needs other people, and it is the reason most notices miss a cut-off.
Publication titles, size specifications, submission deadlines and surcharge figures above are as published by SPH Media in its obituary advertising specifications. Rates are not among the published figures and must be confirmed at booking.
