I refer to reports that a 100-year-old rainforest is being cleared for a Muslim cemetery close to the residential community of Section 8, Kota Damansara in Selangor.

There is no life without death, not in this world anyway. But that does not necessarily mean that you have to live your life by the graveyard or that your children need to go to school by a cemetery? If you go to any Malaysian village, there would be a 'surau' or mosque in every village and by the mosque in the village itself would be the graveyard.

In fact, the distance from the graveyard to many houses would actually be a short walking distance. There is a reason for this. Up till at least 40 years ago, we didn't have the type of motorised transport or superhighways that can take us 40 miles out of town within 20 minutes.

When death struck a family, the local 'imam' or 'bilal' would be the first person to be informed and the 'pengusung jenazah' (hearse) would then be readied for the funeral. Graveyards are almost always located as far as the feet can carry the bearers of the 'usung' and this generally is less then a mile in most places.

It was for this same reason, too, that many graveyards were located close to hospitals. There was no efficient mode of transport then to move the body for burial save the bullock cart. Even in the 60s, well-to-do Malaysians had to make do with lorries.

But we don't live in those times now. The year is 2007 and we have at our disposal excellent roads and vehicles. Out town planners should be able to locate suitable areas for cemeteries and landscape them. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust they say.

A tombstone is there for remembrance and if we say we respect the dead, then we should place them in a well-planned environment similar to the likes of the Nilai or Nirvana Memorial Park cemeteries.

It is a real dishonour to the dead and their families to see an unkempt cemetery like the Muslim cemetery at Simpang Lima, Klang, whilst the adjoining Chinese cemetery is well kept, especially so after Cheng Beng.

With today's infrastructure, cemeteries should be located well away from residential areas, and more importantly, properly maintained. It is unnecessary today to build graveyards right next to residential areas, or in some instances even religious schools, as this clearly contravenes modern town planning.

What is the point in having a well-planned community if our own town planners are just going to create another Kampung Baru right in its midst and 30 years later find out they have blundered. We must not permit our respect for the dead to lead us into an act of injustice to the living.