• Users can upload messages and pick out gifts that will be sent to a nominee at the date or event of their choosing
• Such services have gained traction here in the last one-and-a-half years, especially amid the global pandemic
• NextLifeBook saw 70 per cent of its total sign-ups at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic last year
• It also spurred US company Anubis Digital to launch its platform, Need2TellYou, in Singapore earlier this month

SINGAPORE — After she gave birth to a baby girl last year, funeral director Ang Jolie Mei, 40, uploaded a digital message to be sent to her daughter after Ms Ang is dead.

The “emotional will”, as she called it, has been saved in a portal and is slated to be released on the date of her daughter’s 21st birthday.

“Being so close to death constantly reminds me that I can die anytime. When that happens, I want to be prepared,” said Ms Ang.

She is among over 10,000 users of NextLifeBook, a digital platform that allows people to upload video, audio, photo or text messages and pick out gifts that will be sent to a nominee at the date or event of their choosing.

Such services have gained traction here in the last one-and-a-half years, reflecting the growing desire of some people to continue communicating or surprising their loved ones after death, especially amid a global pandemic.

NextLifeBook, which was launched in April 2020, saw 70 per cent of its total sign-ups at the peak of the pandemic last year.

But so far, it has yet to execute any user’s wishes, Mr Lee Yong Ceih, its director, said.

Singapore-based portal Timeliss, which was launched in 2018, has seen its number of users increase by one-and-a-half times in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.

Its co-founder, Ms Kat Neo, said the portal has more than 300 users to date.

Earlier this month, American company Anubis Digital launched Need2TellYou, a platform offering similar services, in Singapore.

Founder Rene Rancourt told TODAY that the move was spurred by the global pandemic situation.

“This crisis highlighted the fact that something can happen to us unexpectedly. The word death is mentioned daily everywhere in the news. People become aware of this possibility and its probability,” he said.

Like NextLifeBook, Need2TellYou also allows users to upload a message and programme it for decades down the line. Users have to acknowledge an email or text sent to them periodically to ensure they are still alive.

If there is no response, the platform will contact nominated “guardians” to confirm if the user has died or is incapacitated and unable to respond. Once the death has been confirmed, all the uploaded messages stored will be released at the predetermined date, event, or location — such as a wedding date or anniversary of the user’s passing.

Mr Rancourt said its service relies on Amazon Web Services infrastructure, which stores all digital assets securely online. To date, the platform has no subscribers here, he added.

DEATH IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Mr Lee said while keeping digital memories or leaving gifts for loved ones after death is a foreign concept to many Singaporeans, he has seen a demand for it.

Such services are also not readily available here. For example, a person who wants to order a bouquet of flowers or a cake months or years in advance needs to leave a deposit with the florist or cake shop and bank on the shops still being in operation at the time of execution, he said.

“There are too many unknowns,” said Mr Lee. “What NextLifeBook does is to allow users to choose a certain type of cake or style of bouquet that is not from any specific cake shop or florist so that the gift can still be sent (to the recipient) when the time comes.”

NextLifeBook users get to send a gift to a nominee when they sign up for a free basic plan or pay about S$7 monthly for three gifts, among other perks.

Timeless, on the other hand, offers different products and services that have free tiers of use.

Fees apply only to premium services such as its digital planner, where users can make Central Provident Fund nominations or secure important documents such as a medical directive.

But what if such a company closes down before its clients die?

Ms Neo, who is also the business development director at Timeliss, admits that it is difficult to predict the longevity of the platform, which may, in turn, affect the storage of digital messages.

“We can’t guarantee our users that the company is going to live forever. But we will give ample notice period and allow users to download all their documents in the event we cease operations,” she said.

She added that in the event the company changes hands, the execution system will be negotiated with the new company and users will be given the choice to migrate to the new platform.

NextLifeBook, which was acquired by financial services provider Summit Planners last month, will pass the responsibility of executing users’ wishes to its parent company in the event it ceases operations.

“Just like a life insurance plan, an executor has been appointed to execute the person’s wishes after he dies. This will apply to digital memories and gifts,” said Mr Lee.

He added that a portion of the subscription fee will go into an insurance plan to make sure the user’s wishes are granted and agents under Summit Planners will oversee this.

Ms Ang hopes her digital memories will not be wiped out in the event NextLifeBook ceases operations.

“This is a concern of course. But I’m convinced they can sustain because they are operating on a subscription model. Hopefully, it can help keep the page running,” she said.

“Because it would be a waste for me to prepare all these for my daughter for it to not reach her.”