Talk about death comes alive in ageing Hong Kong

Minimal Funeral founder Pasu Ng in his booth at the retirement expo.

Photo: Jonathan Wong Hongkongers are more willing to discuss death including their own funeral wishes in the wake of the Covid pandemic, mass emigration and the deadly Tai Po fire, amid a rapidly ageing population, a death education advocate says.

Pasu Ng Kwai-lun, founder of Minimal Funeral and a practitioner of “life-and-death education”, said attitudes had changed and people had grown much more open to discussing death over the past five to 10 years. “People may not go as far as fully planning their funerals, but at least they are saying a few things now,” he told the South China Morning Post at a retirement expo during the Ching Ming Festival on Sunday. “Whether they want something simple, whether they want certain rituals, or how they want to be remembered.” Conversations around death remain sensitive in Chinese culture, as Ng noted his booth was “practically the only one discussing death and funeral arrangements” despite the exhibition’s focus on retirement planning, though he added that recent social changes had pushed more people to confront the issue.

He pointed to the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought mortality into sharp focus, as well as a wave of emigration that has left some elderly residents with fewer family members nearby.

Last November’s catastrophic fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po – which killed 168 people – had also prompted intense reflection on mortality and safety in the city.

Popular culture also played a role, Ng said, citing the box office success of the funeral-themed film The Last Dance in bringing death and end-of-life issues into mainstream discussion.

Kowloon Funeral Parlour holds an open day in October last year.

Photo: Karma Lo Ng said there was a distinction between what he called “death education” and “life and death education”.

The former, he said, tended to focus on death itself, including religious, scientific or even philosophical understandings, while life and death education went further to use death as a lens to reflect on how people lived. “It’s about thinking how to walk your life journey better,” he said. “Planning for death is also planning for the second half of life.” That included financial planning, healthcare decisions and end-of-life care, as well as emotional preparation for both individuals and their families.

Ng said he had observed a gradual shift from complete silence to some level of openness. “There is an older generation

原文链接: 南华早报