Thousands brave rain to mark Ching Ming as Wang Fuk Court residents return to mourn

Mr Yau and Mrs Yau, residents of Wang Chi House at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, returned to the fire-torn site to mourn their neighbours.

Photo: Denise Tsang Thousands of Hongkongers braved thundery and rainy weather on Ching Ming Festival on Sunday to sweep tombs, with some distraught Wang Fuk Court residents returning to the fire-ravaged site to mourn.

It was the first Ching Ming Festival for more than 5,000 displaced residents at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court, the site of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire since 1948.

The inferno claimed 168 lives after the blaze broke out on November 26 and spread across seven of the estate’s eight towers.

During the festival, many Chinese families visit the tombs of their ancestors to pay their respects, clean the site and make ritual offerings.

Against the backdrop of gloomy skies and showers, a couple who introduced themselves as Mr Yau, 78, and Mrs Yau, 70, sat on a bench next to the housing estate, silently gazing at the charred buildings.

They spent an hour on public transport on Sunday morning to mourn their lost neighbours and friends. “No one expected the big renovation to end up as a big burial,” Mr Yau said.

The couple are temporarily staying at Runway 1331, a hostel in Kai Tak that was originally built as Covid-19 quarantine cubicles.

The Yaus were anxiously waiting for a government decision over resettlement as the fate of their home on Wang Chi House – the only tower spared from the fire – remained uncertain.

But the government has yet to offer any plans for the tower’s residents. “I from time to time go insane and lose temper when thinking of the future of the two of us, I hope the government will properly resettle us as we are very old,” Mrs Yau said.

Several Wang Fuk Court residents who lost their loved ones in the fire said they had already paid their visits last month, in keeping with tradition.

Traditionally, new tombs buried less than a year ago must be swept before Spring Sacrifice, or chunshe – a Chinese folk festival to honour the God of the Soil and to pray for a good harvest.

This year, it fell on March 23.

Paying an earlier visit keeps the mourning of the new loss separate from the more celebratory atmosphere of spring, and ensures the deceased receive offerings before the gates of the underworld become crowded on Ching Ming.

Meanwhile, crowds were seen at graveyards located at such areas as Cape Collinson, Tseung Kwan O, Wo Hop Shek and Sha Tin.

Despite the rain, hundreds of people flocked to

原文链接: 南华早报