Well that's the whole point of this discussion now isn't it?
Actually, I have gone through Wikipedia.
Well, Buddha Himself, may be an Indian or Buddhism itself originated from India but I think the principles of his teaching has nothing to do with him being an Indian or from India or not right? It's not that I am confused but this is what I observed. Read my reply below please.
I think you're assuming a little too much. It's deemed demeaning because I asked a question? What I am asking here is based on what I observed. Now, a while ago, a person whom was very close to me passed away. We all agreed on Buddhist funeral for the deceased. With that. nuns came every night and we recited prayers. On the last night of the ceremony (the night before the casket leaves for the crematorium), we burned some paper effigies. That made me wonder, why do we need to do these as clearly Buddhism believes in the concept of reincarnation after 100 days.  Source here clearly mentioned that spirits are reborn 3 days, 21 days, 49 days or 100 days after death, and in some cases even 7 years. Apart from the burning of paper effigy, other aspects of the funeral has also been mixed with other practices, such as choosing of the right columbarium spot, etc.

With that said, I am wondering, why do we put effort into treating the deceased are a living entity when clearly Buddhism teaches that the spirit will re-incarnate.

I may not be believer or practitioner of Buddhist or Taoism faith but I do observe these rites when it is required of me to do so. In fact I am heading to Nilai tomorrow for some prayers.