LIKE THE HUMAN intestines on display inside, the line of people waiting to enter the Hong Kong Exhibition Centre at the weekend forms a tight, long coil. Toddlers and grandparents alike wait excitedly and patiently while 'wows' and 'aiyahs' ricochet around one of the high-ceilinged halls within. What's the fuss? Bodies and internal organs, 167 specimens in total, preserved and presented for public viewing at the Mysteries Of The Human Body exhibition. The event - accompanied by warnings deterring those who are pregnant or suffering high blood pressure, heart disease or mental illness - showcases not only corpses, but also foetuses. Although organisers are not sure how many visitors the exhibition will attract by the time it closes on February 23, in Japan, from where it originates, it lured more than 2.5 million viewers last year. Beginning with just three exhibits in 1996 to celebrate the Japanese Association of Anatomists' 100th anniversary, Mysteries Of The Human Body features cadavers and body parts that have undergone a tissue-preservation technique called 'plastination'. Developed 25 years ago by German-born professor, Gunther von Hagens, it involves replacing the fat and water of corpses with a plastic material that becomes rigid, allowing the bodies to be exhibited in different poses at room temperature. When von Hagens announced plans to show his collection of 175 body parts and 25 corpses in Britain last March, MPs including Sir Teddy Taylor voiced their disgust. 'What possible benefit can a normal person gain from looking at dead bodies?' Taylor vented on the BBC. 'This will appeal only to ghoulish groups in our society.' Taylor's view was echoed by fellow Conservative MP, Anthony Steen, who said: 'It is as if nothing is sacrosanct any more. There is no dignity to human life and the only object is to shock.' In defence, von Hagens declared that the object of his show was 'education and enlightenment', a view echoed by organisers and supporters of the exhibition in Wan Chai. 'In the past, we have had limited understanding about our own bodies,' legislative councillor and president of the Medical Council of Hong Kong, Dr Lo Wing-lok, opines in the exhibition's 168-page book. He adds: '[The exhibition's] collection of plastinated human anatomical models, together with their explanatory captions and drawings, should deepen the public's basic knowledge of the body structure and functions, raise the level of medical understanding and encourage healthy living.' The Secretary for Home Affairs, Dr Patrick Ho Chi-ping, concurs. 'I hope everyone will be more aware of their health after gaining a deeper understanding of their own bodies.' The show begins with a brief explanation of the plastination process. Then comes the first preserved part: a left hand and forearm replete with blood vessels and capillaries. Next, a skull, with half the crown removed, and red arteries and blue veins sprawling from within and across the surface. Suspended on a long metal spring, one of the most popular exhibits, a preserved brain, hangs inside a glass case. Visitors can place an arm through a hole at the front to lift the brain. At 1.4kg and the size of a large grapefruit, it's quite a handful. The most talked-about exhibit, however, is the display of seven foetuses at different stages of development. 'Where did they come from?' many people ask. Many visitors likened the muscles, body tissues and organs on display to foods such as ham, sharks' fin and beef. 'I'm not going to eat meat for a while,' says a 15-year-old student, Martin Chan Chi-man. 'It's gross,' says eight-year-old Maggie Hui Wing-yan, when asked what she thinks of the preserved bodies. She had travelled an hour with her father from their home in Tin Shui Wai especially to see the show. The exhibition is attracting non-locals as well. 'I have a back problem and now I understand a bit more about it,' says Peter Scholz, 43, who is visiting the SAR from Germany. 'It's very interesting.' What visitors probably don't know, however, is that they needn't have waited for the exhibition to open to have the experience. In a joint project between the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, an embalmer was sent to Germany more than 10 years ago to learn plastination. Since then, the technique - which costs about $8,000 per body for the plastics alone - has been used to make 'hundreds of specimens', according to Dr O Wai-sum, assistant professor of the University of Hong Kong's department of anatomy. The university allows them to be viewed by students and potential applicants interested in health-related issues. Having seen photographs of the exhibits in Wan Chai, he compliments the anatomists' work, saying: 'We do appreciate it is an art to make a good plastinated specimen.' Where do the bodies come from? For the department, hospitals such as the Queen Mary in Pokfulam are a 'regular source'. If a patient dies and relatives cannot be traced, a notice is displayed at the hospital's mortuary for one month. After that, if the body is not claimed it could be used for medical and educational purposes, including plastination. For Mysteries Of The Human Body, however, the bodies come from the Red Cross and their individual identities are unknown. Although the exhibition spokes-person stresses all specimens on show were donated by individuals who gave permission for their bodies to be used after death for medical, educational and research purposes, none gave consent specifically to be used for plastination. In contrast, the bodies von Hagens preserves are donated mostly by people who want their bodies to be plastinated to advance human knowledge. Each exhibition leads to a flood of volunteers, and von Hagens has a registry of 3,200 donors. So far, however, the Hong Kong exhibition is yet to attract any volunteers. Visitor Pun Kit-sum will certainly not be the first. Although the 24-year-old nurse says she would donate her body for 'medical and educational purposes', she wouldn't allow it to be used in a similar exhibition. 'You can see the people don't respect the bodies, and I don't think anyone's gained much from it,' she says. Another visitor, Li Sau-ha, also a nurse, begs to differ. To the 40-year-old mother of three, Mysteries is worthwhile. 'I have already signed a card [elsewhere] to donate my body and wouldn't mind if it became plastinated,' she says. 'I see it as a gift to others when I die.' hannah.lee@scmp.com Mysteries Of The Human Body. Hong Kong Exhibition Centre, 3/F, Hall A, China Resources Building, 26 Harbour Road, Wan Chai. Open 10am-5.30pm. Ends Feb 23. Admission: $80 ($35 students; $15 six to 12-year-olds). For more details phone 2827 7295
