Death Customs

Egypt balloon crash bodies flown back to Hong Kong

11 Mar 2013

The bodies of nine Hong Kong people who were among the 19 killed in a hot air balloon tragedy in Egypt last month were flown back to Hong Kong on Monday.

7:48PM

Relatives of Hong Kong balloon victims gather at crash site in Egypt

3 Mar 2013

They gathered in the field where the balloon crashed near the village of Hager El Dibie, west of Luxor, to perform mourning rituals. Accompanied by Hong Kong officials, the families - who had made...

5:14AM

Coming clean on growing number of lonely deaths in South Korea

6 Feb 2013

In a country where the unravelling of Confucian traditions means that many elderly people are no longer cared for by family, more South Koreans are dying in solitude, after either taking their own...

5:22AM

Taoist hall asks court to declare it religious, to house human ashes

9 Dec 2012

A Taoist hall asked a court to declare it a religious institute, so it could serve as a repository for human ashes.

3:59AM

Some potential urn niche sites not yet confirmed

11 Nov 2012

Some of the 24 potential columbarium sites identified by the government at least 18 months ago had yet to be confirmed, the health minister admitted yesterday.

Further planning and...

5:10AM

Mortician Frank Malabed is Philippines' embalmer to the famous

8 Nov 2012

When dictator Ferdinand Marcos and a host of other famous Philippine figures met their maker, they also met Frank Malabed.

3:58AM

Opinion

Workers pay the price for our bargains

5:20AM

Howard Winn

Barry Cheung makes waves in Moscow

3:47AM

Architects unveil plans for floating columbarium

A local architecture firm has come up with an ingenious way to alleviate the growing shortage of burial space - by turning a ship into a floating columbarium.

Bread Studio has developed the...

4:13AM

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Town planners to impose controls on Po Toi Island developments

The Town Planning Board upheld its decision to impose controls on any development on Po Toi Island yesterday, but now faces a legal challenge from developers who are building a memorial garden...

3:11AM

Computer ballot for niches at new Wo Hop Shek columbarium

The completion of a new HK$629.5 million public columbarium in Wo Hop Shek may help reduce waiting times of up to five years for a public urn niche, but the 20,800 applicants already on the...

3:14AM

Activist cremated 'without consent'

Former Tiananmen dissident Li Wangyang's body was cremated yesterday, three days after his suspicious death in hospital, stoking criticism of the authorities in Shaoyang, Hunan province.

5:12PM

Alex Randall

English avant-garde lighting artist Alex Randall creates striking designs that feature stuffed wild animals.

5:10PM

'Alternative' ash burials start to gain ground

Hongkongers are increasingly opting for their ashes to be scattered in a 'garden of remembrance' as opposed to costlier, traditional burial arrangements such as the use of niches, says a funeral...

4:10PM