Society

"You wake up to see yourself lying in a hospital bed. You are being told by a doctor that you were rushed to the hospital by the taxi driver. The next thing you know you are dying. Your heart pounds though as your body stays frozen. Millions of questions pop and memories of your life replay. Do I need a funeral? Do I donate my organs? What about my money? What about everyone? Will anyone remember me? Will they come and visit my grave? If anyone is ready, please open your eyes and write down your death note."   Art therapist, Michelle Chan Wan-chee, in her mid-30s, paused the meditation session of the death-education workshop, organised by an independent bookstore, Stay within Bookspace, in Chai Wan on a Sunday in January. She asked the 15 participants to write down their feelings and share it in small groups. Louis Chuk Ka-lok, 21, who runs the bookstore, said his traumatic experience with the deaths of his mother and grandmother made him want to help others rehearse and prepare before death happens in real life. Like this workshop, a handful of private organisations in Hong Kong are starting to offer interactive and reflective death-education experiences, as more people call for better public awareness of the value of life and death. Hong Kong needs death education because society is ageing faster, said Lam Ching-choi, CEO of the Haven of Hope Christian Service and chairman of the Elderly Commission, at a health conference at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.   Government data has shown an inversely proportional phenomenon on the demographics in Hong Kong. From 2014 to 2018, the number of birth in Hong Kong showed an average annual reduce of 2,150; while the number of death from 2014 to 2018 showed an average annual increase …

On September 9, the usual tranquillity of Sunday evenings in Discovery Bay was disrupted by thousands of residents participating in a demonstration, against the impending eviction of Discovery Bay Marina Club houseboat residents.The move is due to new plans initiated at Tai Pak Bay by the Hong Kong Resort (HKR), a company which owns most of the development projects in the area. All dressed in white shirts, the demonstrators marched from Marina Club on to Discovery Drive and up Sienna Road. They gathered at the centre of the North Plaza at around 6pm, right before the commencement of their community hall meeting. "We want the Hong Kong Resorts to understand that their actions don't just affect the Marina residents, but also this entire community," said Henry Moreno, one of the organisers of the demonstration, who is also the chairman of 208 affected boathouse members. Mr. Moreno moved to Marina Club with his wife and three children just two years ago because they could not afford an apartment in Hong Kong. His boat costed him around $4.4 million, of which he still has a $3 million mortgage yet to be paid. However, once evicted with nowhere to berth, his vessel will worth nothing. "I am close to facing personal bankruptcy," said Mr. Moreno, "I still have three kids that go to school here, two in Discovery Bay International School which is owned by Hong Kong Resort and one in Discovery College, who would be out of school if we can't make things work. I have a family to take care of, so leaving the marina with nowhere to go is definitely not an option. But right now I really don’t know where we can go." Discovery College and Discovery Bay International School are the two main schools in the area. In …

The 2009 Nobel laureate Sir Charles Kao Kuen's funeral took place at the Hong Kong funeral home this morning following a public wake yesterday evening. Read more: https://tyr-jour.hkbu.edu.hk/2018/10/07/hundreds-pay-last-tribute-to-father-of-fibre-optics/ Sir Charles's widow Gwen Kao Wong May-wan arrived at the funeral home in North Point accompanied by her family and friends at about 10 am. The farewell ceremony started half an hour later. During the ceremony, videos about Sir Charles's life were played. Chinese University of Hong Kong Chorus sang one of the late vice-chancellor's favourite songs The Moon Represents My Heart. Sir Charles Kao was the third vice-chancellor of CUHK. Several university vice-chancellors and academics gave their orations, including incumbent vice-chancellor Rocky Tuan Sung-chi and former vice-chancellor Joseph Sung Jao-yiu. "The optical fibre he invented has rewritten human history and benefited humankind," said Prof. Tuan. "His perseverance is worth learning," said Prof. Sung. Rev. Francis King, one of Sir Charles's cousins, spoke on behalf of the family. "Death does not put an end to the relationship of Charles with us," he said. "He taught me to respect every human being." CUHK political science senior lecturer Ivan Choy Chi-keung described Sir Charles as "the nicest, most magnanimous and most sincere university headmaster" he has ever met. The city's chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was also one of the eight pallbearers apart from Prof. Tuan and Prof. Sung. Many other government officials also attended the remembrance, including financial secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, secretary for justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah. With his children, Simon and Amanda, carrying his portrait into the hearse, Sir Charles's coffin was then transferred to the Cape Collinson Crematorium. At age 84, he died in peace at Bradbury Hospice in Sha Tin on September 23 this year due to pneumonia.

Thousands bade a final farewell this afternoon to the 2009 Nobel laureate Sir Charles Kao Kuen, who passed away in Hong Kong last month at the age of 84. The public wake took place at Hong Kong Funeral Home in North Point from 3 to 5 pm today. The electrical engineer and former vice-chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong died in peace at Bradbury Hospice in Sha Tin on September 23 this year, having suffered from Alzheimer's disease for the past 16 years. Wearing black, mourners attended the funeral holding a white chrysanthemum on hand. "His farsightedness and perseverance in research gave rise to epoch-defining contributions to modern communications and set the pace for how humans transfer and disseminate information," the memorial booklet distributed to the guest reads. Academics, government officials and politicians came to express their respect to Sir Charles including university headmasters and senior government officials, such as chief secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung and CUHK vice-chancellor Rocky Tuan Sung-chi, as well as representatives from his secondary school St. Joseph's College. Fung Ka-keung, 39, graduated from CUHK in 2002, attended the wake as a voluntary helper. He said he came here due to "the calling as part of United College" since Professor Kao also belonged to that college before being promoted to the university's vice-chancellor. Ms. Lee, at her 70s, especially came to pay her last respects to Sir Charles. She said he had made her life more convenient thanks to his invention of the optical fibre. Polly Kwong Miu-yee was Sir Charles's painting tutor from 2013 to July this year to help him soothe his dementia. She said she admired his positivity and "willingness to communicate through painting brushes". "He loves smiling," Ms. Kwong told The Young Reporter. The renowned physicist was born in Shanghai on …