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Inside Malaysia’s Skuad Pengurusan Jenazah: Giving dignity to the unclaimed dead
KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — His body was discovered by members of the public beside a building in the capital city. Homeless, the elderly Malaysian man had died alone.
What made the situation even more heartbreaking was that his remains lay unclaimed in a hospital mortuary for nearly a week while authorities attempted to trace and contact his next of kin.
Eventually, his body was handed over to Skuad Pengurusan Jenazah Malaysia (SPJM) for burial.
“We were informed that the hospital managed to contact the deceased’s nephew, who lives in Melaka. Unfortunately, the man said he could not afford to claim the body due to financial hardship. He asked the hospital to make the necessary arrangements, and that was when we stepped in,” SPJM founder Muhammad Rafieudin Zainal Rasid said, adding that his organisation handles about 30 unclaimed bodies each year.
While most involve unidentified individuals, he noted an increase in the number of cases in which families effectively relinquish responsibility for the deceased.
“This may be due to strained family relationships. The relatives may still be around, but they either deliberately choose not to come or cannot afford to come (to claim the body),” he said.
2,000 volunteers nationwide
SPJM is among several organisations in Malaysia that have taken on the responsibility of managing unclaimed Muslim bodies while facilitating funeral arrangements for non-Muslims.
“We do this because it is a communal obligation (fardu kifayah),” Muhammad Rafieudin told Bernama in an interview recently.
Recalling the establishment of the squad in 2017, Muhammad Rafieudin, who has more than two decades of experience in funeral management, said he initially worked alone after noticing a growing number of unclaimed bodies at hospitals.
“As the need on the ground continued to increase, I began gathering volunteers and formally established this squad in 2017 to help ease the burden on the authorities and the government,” he said, adding that SPJM now has about 2,000 registered volunteers nationwide.
Their primary mission is to ensure that every unclaimed deceased Muslim’s remains are managed with dignity, professionalism and in accordance with Islamic principles. The organisation also offers logistical support such as hearses and coffins for non-Muslim remains, while serving as a liaison to ensure their final rites proceed smoothly.
Procedures
Muhammad Rafieudin said his organisation is usually contacted by the authorities to handle unclaimed bodies only after all efforts to trace the deceased’s relatives have been exhausted.
“In a typical case where the body is claimed by family members, documentation and related procedures can usually be completed within a few hours of the death being confirmed, and burial for Muslims is often carried out on the same day. However, the situation is different when it comes to unclaimed bodies.
“For bodies with known identities but no family members coming forward to claim them, the process generally takes between 24 and 72 hours while hospitals, the police and the Social Welfare Department attempt to locate relatives. In some cases, it can take even longer,” he said.
However, the process becomes far more complicated in cases involving unidentified persons, including undocumented foreign nationals. Some bodies remain in hospital mortuaries for months, if not years.
“There are many matters that need to be verified before a body can be handed over to us, including determining the deceased’s religion. All these processes are carried out by the authorities,” he explained.
Since its establishment, SPJM has managed more than 300 unclaimed bodies, involving cases where relatives refused to claim the deceased, individuals with no known next of kin and unidentified bodies.
Muhammad Rafieudin also opined that the authorities should introduce national guidelines on the management of unclaimed bodies to ensure a more structured approach, while also providing more systematic logistical and financial support.
“More importantly, we hope society will recognise that this issue (of managing unclaimed bodies) is not a burden that should be carried by one party alone. It is a shared responsibility. If ordinary citizens like us do not care, who else can we depend on?” he said.
Family institution
Meanwhile, commenting on the rising number of people living alone who die unnoticed and their remains are only discovered days or even weeks later, social scientist Dr Mimi Hanida Abdul Mutalib said one contributing factor is the weakening of family ties.
“In the past, the family institution served as the core of emotional and social support, with close relationships and a strong culture of looking out for one another. Today, however, more people are living alone and becoming separated from their families for various reasons, including migration from rural areas to cities in search of better opportunities.
“In some cases, individuals become estranged due to family conflicts, financial pressures or an inability to meet family expectations, leading them to withdraw from social connections,” said Mimi Hanida, a lecturer at the Anthropology and Sociology Programme, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
She said the shift has also been driven by technological progress and modern systems that have gradually replaced some of the traditional roles once played by families.
“In the past, people relied on relatives for information, assistance and support. Today, many matters can be handled independently as long as one has sufficient financial resources and digital access.
“In this era of artificial intelligence, people are becoming increasingly self-reliant, but at the same time, social dependency networks are thinning. When a crisis occurs, there may no longer be a close circle of people who immediately notice their absence,” she said.
She added that at the community level, neighbourhood bonds have also weakened, particularly in urban areas where busy lifestyles and concerns about being perceived as “busybodies” have reduced even basic interactions among neighbours.
The academic also challenged the perception that the issue of dying alone or bodies left unclaimed is confined to low- and middle-income groups. According to her, such cases also occur among the wealthy.
She expressed concern that if the trend continues, society may eventually stop viewing it as a serious issue, further eroding the family institution.
“Malaysia may not yet be facing a crisis on the scale of Japan’s ‘kodokushi’ phenomenon, where many people remain unmarried or childless due to rising living costs. However, the increasing number of people dying alone without anyone noticing should be viewed as an early warning sign.
“In an increasingly complex society, physical development and economic policies must be accompanied by efforts to reaffirm the value of (community) togetherness. Without strong social networks, a person can disappear quietly and only be discovered when it is already too late,” she said.
Chronic loneliness
Speaking from a psychological perspective, senior lecturer at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia’s Faculty of Leadership and Management, Dr Nurhafizah Mohd Sukor, said deaths of this nature are often closely linked to emotional struggles that individuals carry silently until the end of their lives.
“Some people withdraw from others because they are burdened by guilt, depression, anxiety or a desire not to inconvenience those around them. Strained family relationships and poor communication lead them to suppress their sadness in isolation. Over time, this isolation becomes routine and eventually turns into a way of life,” she said.
She added that while some individuals choose to live alone or be part of a smaller social circle, those who feel isolated or unwanted may experience a decline in their ability to think clearly, or find it difficult to regulate their emotions and maintain motivation to care for themselves and fulfil daily responsibilities.
In extreme cases, this can lead to self-neglect — a condition characterised by a lack of attention to personal hygiene, nutrition and health. Individuals who suppress negative emotions over long periods are at greater risk of depression and may continue distancing themselves from others. Gradually, the isolation deepens, often without them realising it, until it affects their overall well-being.
“The early signs of serious isolation are often hidden behind what appears to be a normal daily life. Emotionally, they may avoid sharing their true feelings, frequently respond with ‘I’m fine’, or steer away from meaningful conversations even with close family members and friends.
“Socially, they may deliberately delay or avoid responding to messages from family members, decline invitations, or show little interest in forming new social connections.
“Physically, they may spend most of their time alone at home, experience disrupted sleep patterns and appetite changes, or feel fatigued easily. These behaviours are easily dismissed as normal or simply as a preference for privacy, but when prolonged, they may indicate serious psychological distress,” she explained.
Role of society
Nurhafizah stressed that members of the public can still play a meaningful role without intruding on an individual’s privacy.
She added that concern for others can begin with paying attention to changes in the behaviour of neighbours and close acquaintances, keeping contact numbers for social support services and sharing information with relevant agencies such as the Social Welfare Department, religious institutions, health clinics and non-governmental organisations.
“In this regard, neighbourhood visits and community engagement activities should be encouraged more frequently. Providing emotional and spiritual support services, or identifying individuals who live alone within the community, can help reduce the risk of prolonged isolation,” she said.
“That is why the support of compassionate and caring communities is essential to ensure that those who live alone do not become so overwhelmed by loneliness that their lives end in complete isolation.” — Bernama
