New commemorative facility for green burial installed in Tsang Tsui Garden of Remembrance, Tuen Mun (with photos)
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The GoR at the Tsang Tsui Columbarium in Tuen Mun is built along the waterfront and designed to blend in with the natural environment. The new memorial facility is a participatory artwork created by local wood artist Parry Ling on the themes of environmental protection and remembrance. It is created in the shape of a wooden boat by using debris from fallen trees and other garden waste collected from Y·PARK. The boat is a metaphor not only to commemorate those who have passed away and used green burial, but also to provide a space of transition for their loved ones after their departure. Memorial post boxes with local characteristics on the artwork allow families of those who have used green burial services (including scattering of cremains at sea and in GoRs) to send their blessings and remembrance to the deceased by posting memorial notes.
The Government is committed to promoting green burial as a more environmentally friendly and sustainable way of handling cremated human ashes. The Government will continue to provide and improve its facilities so that green burial gradually becomes a mainstream arrangement for handling cremated human ashes, thereby achieving the policy objectives of being more environmentally friendly and promoting sustainable development. In addition to installing the new commemorative facility, the FEHD will provide the following new services:
- Tsang Tsui GoR to be the first GoR to provide, on a trial basis, an individual room for family members to hold simple memorial ceremonies before scattering cremains in the GoR;
- Provide families with the option of using traditional metal ash scattering device or one-off paper scattering device provided free of charge by the FEHD for the scattering of cremains in GoR. They can write down their blessings and words of remembrance for the deceased on the paper ash scatterers. Members of the public may also bring other ash scatterers or containers to scatter cremains;
- Watering pots will be provided in designated GoRs for families to water the grass after scattering cremains, so that the cremains of the deceased can be mixed into the soil and turned into spring soil to nurture flowers and plants;
- Providing those who choose to use the service to scatter cremains at sea with a memorial card with the name of the deceased, date and place of scattering of ashes, together with a photo frame as a keepsake; and
- Enhancing the free ferry service for scattering cremains at sea to allow applicants to change the date of scattering cremains online.
The popularity of green burial has grown significantly over the past decade and is becoming increasingly acceptable to the public, with the number of cases adopting green burial increasing nearly threefold since 2013. The Government encourages members of the public to make early end-of-life preplanning, and most importantly to make their wishes for green burial known to their family members. The FEHD has set up the Green Burial Central Register (www.greenburial.gov.hk/gbcr/eng/home/index.html) for public access to register one's wish for a green burial.
Ends/Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Issued at HKT 10:00
Issued at HKT 10:00
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