When my aunt Pi-pi, whose name was Chua Ah Chow, died, I wrote a short piece for the Methodist pastor to read at her funeral service.

He gave it to another pastor for reference during the service which was conducted in Cantonese.

He also declined to tell the gathering that Madam Chua's ashes would be scattered at sea to rejoin the elements, because he said "that would be unChristian".

He remained adamant, even after I explained that I meant her ashes were rejoining the elements, not her soul.

If all this seems a bit surreal, what the pastor, given the task of translating my piece into Cantonese, did would have been deemed bizarre, if not for the solemnity of the occasion.

Instead of saying my aunt had four sisters and a brother, he declared to the astonished gathering that she had four daughters and a son.

Well, what was lost in the translation didn't really matter. I know my aunt would have chuckled at the mix-up. She had always enjoyed a good laugh!

For those who care about accuracy, I reproduce below what I wrote and what one pastor mangled and another censored, although I'm sure both did what they did with the best intentions:

"Madam Chua was born on March 31, 1915, the second daughter of a Samsui couple who ran a coffee shop in the Kampong Glam area.

Besides Madam Chua, the couple was the parents of four other daughters and one son.

Madam Chua's elder sister and a younger sister passed away many years ago and she had lost touch with her brother in the past two years.

She is survived by two younger sisters and several nieces and nephews.

She was married briefly before the War but separated shortly after.

She had no children but lived an independent and mostly cheerful life, the last two years at Nightingale Nursing Home where Sister Jenny Tan and Mr Jagjit Singh took good and considerate care of her.

Her relatives want to record their grateful thanks to them and to Yoke Lan, the sister of a neighbour at Bendemeer Road, who brought her to Christianity and the spiritual support she needed.

Madam Chua was a gregarious person, who enjoyed food and a good laugh with anyone.

Like China's Deng Xiao Peng, Madm Chua's ashes will be scattered in the sea for them to rejoin the elements.

She will have no memorial tablet but she will never be forgotten in the hearts and minds of those who loved her.

Indeed, every time any of those she leaves behind drinks a cup of coffee, he or she will be remembering Madam Chua for coffee was her favourite brew.

She could drink it morning or late at night and never worried about being kept awake by the caffeine.

She continued to ask for it, even when she could take no more than a teaspoonful or two during her last week on earth."