by Lian Slayford-Wei

Created on: November 18, 2009   Last Updated: January 17, 2012

Burial traditions are an important aspect in any culture. Different societies have different ways of attending to and preparing the bodies of their loved ones after they have passed away, and interment is also very important. For those who are buried, most bodies are placed in graveyards where hundreds of people are laid to rest.

In Hong Kong, the indigenous people had an old tradition where they could bury their dead in hillsides. During the Imperial period, the native Chinese people were allowed to have their departed family members buried on any chosen hillside. However, when the British came to rule the island, there were regulations imposed on this tradition. Under the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance (Cap 132), indigenous inhabitants were required to obtain burial certificates from District Officers, and interments were restricted to government-assigned burial areas.

This, however, has not stopped the native people from carrying on this tradition. One reason for this is that there is no expiry date for these burials. In public cemeteries, human remains are required to be exhumed after six years to be either cremated or reinterred in an urn cemetery.

Because of this, the non-native Hong Kong people and politicians have campaigned in recent years to abolish the indigenous burial rights. There have been three reasons for this. "First, the government has long maintained a policy that strongly favours cremations for most, if not all, Hong Kong people, and it is argued that there is thus no real justification for allowing indigenous inhabitants to maintain the tradition of hillside burials, especially when this right is denied to others. Second, hillside graves detract from the green environment and landscape, as many of them occupy scenic sites. Third, the government is required to pay generous compensation - totalling more than HK$17 million from 1997 to 2002 (SCMP 2002) - when it needs to move such graves in order to implement public works. Under these circumstances, there would appear to be clear justification for the abolition of this burial right."

Despite these reasons, the Hong Kong government has been reluctant to abolish the practice of hillside burials, mainly because it would break Article 40 of the Basic Law. Another reason is because the indigenous people still continue this practice and cherish the fact that they have, above all, never had to worry about the relocation of the graves, especially those residing in a good fung-shui position that is commonly perceived to bring affluence and offspring to descendants.

It is uncertain as to when this practice was established in Hong Kong, but the tradition still continues today. The indigenous people cling to hillside burials as part of spiritual protection and benefits for their families.

Bibliography

Chan, Kwok Shing (2003) Hillside Burials: Indigenous Rights in the New Territories of Hong Kong, Anthropology Today, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.

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