Trinity Wilson
This article is focusing on the recent numbers of death in Hong Kong and the limited amount of space to burry. One of the funeral shop owners Yu Ying Ho interviewed and explained the difficulties he has as an owner in this business. The major concern is making provision for the remains of the dead are one of Hong Kong’s most contentious issues.
In addition, 42,200 people died in Hong Kong last year. According to Lands Department figures the Chinese funerary culture is becoming harder to support in a city of seven million people. They are experiencing hyper urbanization the city’s size is far out of proportion to the level of industrial and commercial development of the country. All of this rapid growth is concentrated in a single primate city. A primate city usually dominates the economic, political and social life of the country. This is a problem that will not be solved overnight. Although there has been some alternatives such as scattering the ashes this is not popular in their culture. Unfortunately, these full cemeteries and limited space for cremated remains, has given rise to a market that is unsure how to have private columbaria for storing human ashes. In addition, the department also stated that this will increase in the coming decades as Hong Kong’s population ages. The dilemma will still remain between big businesses and Hong Kong’s perennial quest for space. All in all, the competition in the funeral industry is intense and this city is now losing ground to the gamble of storage of peoples remains.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/14/world/asia/hongkong-columbaria/index.html?iref=allsearch
1 comment:
This is definitely a problematic component of a booming population that I had never considered. It seems like a very sensitive issue also, because of the emotional connections associated with funerals, and burial concerning faith and family.
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