“Per square foot, it has become more expensive to house the dead than the living,” says Kwok Hoi Pong, chairman of the Hong Kong Funeral Business Association. “A niche for an urn in a private columbarium in the best position can cost up to HK$1.8 mil. This is a phenomenon in Hong Kong.” A ground burial plot can cost anywhere between HK$3 mil (£300,000) and HK$5 mil, but in the city’s congested cemeteries, vacancies rarely become available.
To help resolve this problem, the government implemented 2 measures:
Construction of 2 new public columbariums in Siu Ho Wan on Lantau Island and Sandy Ridge in Lo Wu, which will collectively provide more than 233,500 niches. The construction of these columbariums is expected to be completed in 2025. However, their estimated costs are 187 Million HKD and HK$1.24 billion respectively. The effectiveness of this is debatable as these niches are expected to only meet the demand by the year they are completed. What will happen after then?
In efforts to reduce the demand for niche spaces, the government opened the first Green Burial Gardens of Remembrance of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) in 2013, with a strong advertisement and publicity push in 2018. People would come and scatter the ashes of the recently deceased in a designated garden managed by the FEHD. They also suggested an alternative, which is scattering ashes at sea. Supporting this initiative, the government hired boats for the pilot group and offered this service at no cost for a year.
Is there really not enough land in HK?
Wrong! As of 2021, only roughly 25% of Hong Kong's total land mass is developed. That means that three-quarters of Hong Kong is currently not developed. The issues of developing these areas stem from the geographical characteristics of Hong Kong being a mountainous region, resulting in the case where most land in Hong Kong is simply too steep for any urban development to take place.
The problem with this?
“In line with traditional Chinese customs, we prefer to store our ancestors’ ashes in a niche at a columbarium,” says Kwok. “A physical place where we can pay respects, give offerings and receive blessings. Many Chinese people are still very conservative.”
Will Hong Kong ever solve this issue? Let us know in the comments below.
Sources:
Writing: Shen Tan
Editing: Gaille Su
Graphics: Jennifer Pun
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