An odd batch of visitors

Hong Kong with its 7 million inhabitants and scarce availability of land is struggling to find a place for the remains of its deceased.....

It was already a problem a few decades ago, what with cemeteries being 'overcrowded' and therefore the HK government in the '70's urging people to resort to cremating the deceased.

But anno 2009 the age-old issue of overcrowding has resurfaced again as all public columbariums are stacked full............and the creation of new columbariums (although badly needed) are confoundedly stumbling upon protests of locals who live near the proposed to-be built columbarium sites (apparently, it brings forth bad 'feng shui'....as 'living' and 'dead' cannot live near to eachother...........that's the common belief).

You have to admire HK entrepreneurism,..........some fellow Hong Kong business dudes have found the proverbial 'goose who lays golden eggs'......by offering private columbariums............where for a hefty fee, one can buy a niche to store the remains of their beloved ones or reserve for themselves when they perish.

Ofcourse there is a personal touch to this story........a decade ago, mother Yuen, had arranged for the remains of father Yuen to be transferred to this 'private' columbarium........back then most of the relatives, including me, were balking at the idea of spending a relatively large sum of money on storing the remains of late father Yuen in a 'posh' place.........but admittedly, we, the cynics, were proven wrong........it has been a pretty good investment...........as despite the breakneck Hong Kong way of life..........the site of columbarium is rather unscatched and pretty serene......

But ofcourse this idyllic picture has attracted a different crowd, apart from the worshipping family, to the columbarium/annex temple..........TOURISTS!!!

Somehow tourists with their mandatory camera in tow have found their way to Po Fook Hill Memorial/Columbarium, mixing in with the grieved audience.......and no, there is no law forbidding them to enter the premises and taking snapshots of the temple and its niches. Do the 'souls' object to such visits of strangers coming and taking snapshots from every possible angle? Should ask the ancestors........

Yes, I do confess that I have taken pictures, but certainly not of the niches itself.......to me that feels like an intrusion into something 'sacred'.....

Leave the dead at peace I'd say........