Philanthropist promises family cash help for cleaner's funeral
A philanthropist has promised to give the family of a cleaner - who was killed by a falling security gate last week - financial help for her funeral.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, offering his condolences to the family of Mabel Lim Tjhung Bwee, 42, a cleaner at Hang Ngai Manufacturing and Hostel, said yesterday that a donor, who had declined to be named, had approached the government with the offer of financial assistance for Lim's funeral.
'The Social Welfare Department will also help arrange the funeral for the family,' he said.
The department said after meeting the family on Thursday that it would arrange for cash to meet the cost of a burial, including an urn niche, because the family said it could not afford one. Lim left a husband, Lau Chi-keung, 52, and four children aged between six and 21. Lau Miu-ling, the eldest daughter, said the family was devastated.
When meeting Social Welfare Department officials, Ms Lau said the family had not contacted funeral homes. 'We dare not think [about it],' she said. '[The burial] is the most urgent issue but it requires a lot of money.' Mr Cheung said the department had already given HK$12,000 towards funeral costs and HK$20,000 in emergency aid to the family.
Po Leung Kuk, Lim's employer, would offer the family HK$130,000 in compensation for Lim's death.
Lim was killed on Tuesday when the hostel's iron entrance gate, weighing at least 90kg, fell as she was trying to open it and struck her head. The hostel, for mentally handicapped people, has been run by the welfare department since 2002. The door was found to have problems five months ago and had been repaired, according to the Architectural Services Department, which is responsible for the building's maintenance.
Mr Cheung said yesterday that the welfare department was inspecting all doors and windows at its facilities to avoid similar mishaps.
