A new initiative as part of a collaboration between The TENG Company (TENG) and Direct Funeral Services is set to revolutionise grief support in Singapore. The introduction of Music for Comfort, which is the world's first album that draws on the strengths of listening to monaural beats in open spaces, and The Colours of Missing You, a colouring book targeted toward both children and adults to help them navigate through and come to terms with the often overwhelming and confusing emotions that come with grieving.
Music for Comfort is a 10-track album introduced as a way to provide a pillar of support during moments of grieving, such as during funeral wakes. The record was created after early research from the Singapore Institute of Technology suggested that monaural beats indicated promising reductions in common grief symptoms, such as anxiety and emotional overwhelm.
The applications behind the album extend far beyond grieving the loss of a life and can be used across a plethora of scenarios that result in grief, such as divorce, illness, separation, or personal transitions. Music for Comfort is truly a pioneering initiative in the space of grief management through music. Four tracks from the album will be available to listen to in the last quarter of 2025.
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The beautifully illustrated colouring book The Colours of Missing You was illustrated by Shan Jiang, a Shanghai-born, London-based artist renowned for his collaborations with global brands like Nike and NASA, and is the fourth book by author Darren TK Cheng. The book was designed to help children and adults steer through grief, aiming to help readers acknowledge and digest their emotions, with every colour they use on each page signifying their feelings, from red for anger to indigo for healing.
"Some books ask for pretty pictures. This one demanded the truth. The poem’s gentle yet powerful exploration of grief resonates across cultures and ages," said Shan.
The inspiration behind creating his four-book series, which features titles such as Where Did Grandpa Go?, I Remember Grandma, and A Bowl Full of Ice-Cream, came after Darren’s personal experience of losing his sister in 2022. He drew on his experiences as a psychotherapist and leader in the deathcare industry to convert his expertise and his feelings of grief to be represented by the colours of the rainbow, hoping to guide others through the non-linear stages of grief.
“Did my loss ever go away? No, and I wouldn’t want it to. It is a reminder of my love for her,” Darren added.
The Colours of Missing You can be purchased at the physical and online stores for Direct Funeral Services and Flower Story.
This joint effort between The TENG Company and Direct Funeral Services challenges how society views and handles mental health and grief. Through Music for Comfort and The Colours of Missing You, they encourage Singaporeans to approach grief with compassion, creativity, and a strong sense of community support.
