Ching Ming Festival: emigrating Hongkongers opting to send relatives’ remains overseas, industry veteran says

Funeral logistics veteran says his company helped up to 150 families move their relatives’ remains overseas or back to city last year, double annual figure from 2019

‘Families do not move their ancestors unless they are emigrating. They are worried about whether anyone will come back to pay tribute,’ he adds

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Hongkongers pay tribute to their loved ones during the Ching Ming Festival. Photo: Jelly Tse

Published: 2:55pm, 4 Apr 2024Updated: 8:22pm, 4 Apr 2024

A growing number of Hongkongers have arranged for their late relatives’ remains to be sent overseas or brought back to the city amid an emigration wave, a funeral service veteran has said as residents head to local cemeteries to mark the Ching Ming Festival.

Alan Leung Wai-keung, manager of Hong Kong Funeral Logistics Services, on Thursday said the company helped up to 150 families move their relatives’ remains overseas or back to the city last year, double the annual figure before the emigration trend kicked off in 2019.

“The transfer of ashes has significantly increased. Families do not move their ancestors unless they are emigrating. They are worried about whether anyone will come back to pay tribute,” he said.

The city’s population dropped from 7.52 million in 2019 to 7.33 million in 2022, before rising to 7.5 million in 2023. Authorities have attributed last year’s growth to some Hongkongers returning after the Covid-19 pandemic and the arrival of foreign and mainland Chinese talent.

Leung said his company, which was established in 1996, generally helped to transport bodies from the city back to the deceased’s home countries, such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Nepal.

He added the company had recently seen more business involving popular emigration destinations for Hongkongers, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the United States. Those countries, except the US, have rolled out settlement schemes to Hongkongers in response to Beijing imposing a national security law on the city in 2020.