TY - JOUR
TI - Speaking of the dead: Human remains as heritage in the Singapore context
AU - Tsen-Ta Lee, Jack
TI - Speaking of the dead: Human remains as heritage in the Singapore context
AB - This article considers, in the Singapore context, the legal status of unburied human remains having heritage value, which might be in the form of a deceased person’s corpse that has not been interred; or preserved remains, possibly in a museum or a private collection. It is submitted that, following the guided discretion approach adopted in recent cases concerning human tissue obtained from living human beings, such human remains should be regarded as having the status of property. This would, among other things, enable civil and criminal proceedings to be pursued in domestic law if such remains are removed from archaeological sites or museums without authorization, and for international frameworks facilitating the return of illicitly exported cultural objects to apply. The article also looks at the status of buried human remains, grave goods and funerary monuments, and guidelines concerning the proper treatment of remains in a museum setting. Provided that the interests and beliefs of the community, ethnic or religious groups from whom human remains originated are considered, research into human remains and their sensitive display in museums are important ways for us to learn more about our origins and ourselves.
VL - 2024
IS - Issue 25
PY - 2024
SN - 2084-2902
C1 - 2353-8724
SP - 135
EP - 156
DO - 10.4467/23538724GS.24.009.19870
UR - https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/gsaw/article/speaking-of-the-dead-human-remains-as-heritage-in-the-singapore-context
KW - commercial trading in human remains
KW - human remains as property
KW - Singapore
KW - treatment of human remains in museums