Families look far afield for burial plots
A shortage of land for cemeteries has reached such a point that it is becoming impossible to have permanent burial places in Hong Kong, a government official has warned.
The official said the government would encourage people to cremate the bodies of their loved ones, even though burial was preferred in Chinese tradition.
It also plans to spruce up its eight gardens of remembrance to attract more people to spread the ashes of family members there. However, the gardens of remembrance have attracted fewer than 100 families over the past five years.
In response to the shortage of land, more families are being forced to choose either a burial spot outside Hong Kong or to cremate.
Official figures showed the number of coffin burials has plummeted by 38 per cent in five years - from 6,627 in 2000 to 4,129 last year. Last year only 11 per cent of bodies were buried in local cemeteries, compared with about 20 per cent in 2000.
Over the same period, the number of cremations increased 15 per cent. Between January and March this year, only 1,144 bodies were buried, compared with 9,074 cremations.
Since last month, the Board of Management of the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries - which manages four major cemeteries: Chai Wan, Tsuen Wan, Aberdeen and Tseung Kwan O - has suspended the supply of permanent graves for coffin burial.
Only temporary land leased for 10 years is available, so remains must eventually be cremated or placed in urns that need just a small area for entombing.
Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery provides only temporary burial places for six years.
Families that insist on complying with the Chinese tradition of burying their loved ones are increasingly left to look outside Hong Kong.
The number of body removal permits issued by the Births and Deaths General Register Office under the Immigration Department rose 10 per cent from 946 in 2000 to 1,036 last year.
The office did not have a breakdown of where the bodies went. But the funeral sector estimated about 700 bodies were moved to the mainland for burial every year - double the number 10 years ago.
Over that time the surge in demand has pushed the price of a grave in Shenzhen up 60 per cent to $65,000, according to Tommy Ng Siu-pun, manager of Wai Fook Ceremonial, which has been operating for 25 years.
Canada and Australia are other popular destinations.
Mr Ng said cremation was against Chinese tradition, which insists bodies be kept intact and buried to show respect and give peace to the dead.
'Chinese people would only bury the bodies of their loved ones before Cape Collinson Crematorium was opened in 1962,: he said.
'In the 1970s, 80 per cent of bodies were buried and 20 per cent were cremated.
'But the ratio has completed reversed nowadays, with more 80 per cent of families opting for cremation.'
