Taipei City's Office of Funeral Management (
Although the department is not Taiwan's first funeral management service to receive the international recognition, the acknowledgement marks a milestone for the bureau's efforts to clear its name and create a better image in the wake of allegations of corruption.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
"It used to be an ugly duckling [the funeral management], but now it's beginning to transform," Ma said.
ISO 9000 is the generic name for a family of standards, which includes ISO 9001, ISO 9002, and ISO 9003, said Liu Fang-yi (劉芳宜), general manager of the authorized accrediting company -- AJA Registrars Taiwan (台灣英日美國際公司).
The family includes a number of standards which give advice and guidance on how to implement and interpret the requirements of each member.
While ISO 9001 covers those conducting design activities, ISO 9002 covers non-design services, and ISO 9003, which is rarely used, covers situations where quality is maintained through final inspection.
Since the incumbent bureau director, Chen Jeaw-mei (陳皎眉), took office in July 1999, a series of initiatives have been implemented to improve the image of the department, including obtaining the ISO certification, reshuffling the department's management in April this year, and realizing the department's six reform programs and 27 sub-programs.
The reform programs include systemizing the funeral service process, publicizing information about funeral services, formulating reasonable charges for funeral services, eradicating the "red envelope culture," creating an image of professional funeral services, and studying the possibility of privatizing municipal funeral businesses.
Some of the 27 sub-programs include the experimental program of offering service halls at the two municipal funeral parlors free of charge to deceased families, and to prevent private vehicles and large wreaths to enter the two municipal funeral parlors starting beginning on Nov. 1.
In an attempt to stamp out the "red envelope culture," funeral parlor staff are required to carry less than NT$1,000 at work.
Violators face one major demerit or can be dismissed from the office.
To recognize the contribution of municipal funeral parlor staff, each employee, starting June 1, will receive a monthly bonus of between NT$6,000 and NT$30,000, following the Cabinet's approval in May that funeral parlors are allowed to set aside 35 percent of their monthly revenues as employees' bonus funds.
The department also plans to spend NT$7.5 million to renovate the Taipei No. 2 Funeral Parlor, pending approval from the mayor.
Finally, the department is encouraging the city's some 200 private funeral homes to participate in the first annual self-evaluation program.
More than 35 private funeral homes have already signed up, and results are slated to be made public by the end of the month.
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