Many older people in HCM City are having difficulty finding land for burial plots as urban sprawl takes up more and more area of the city.
Tam by the family’s altar
There are a number of abandoned plots and orchards in the suburbs which people may be willing to sell for burial purposes. Some even bury their deceased relatives in their gardens despite a ban on the practice.
Tam, a 76-year-old resident of Hoc Mon District, said she has a number of illnesses such as diabetes and heart illnesses, so two years ago, she told her children to find a plot of land near the house. Despite their best efforts, however the children have been unable to find any suitable land.
“Either the land is being used or the owners are unwilling because of the ban on selling cemetery plots. The monks near my house said we would have to pay VND200 million (USD9,500) for grave inside the pagoda. The price is too high, so we’re still looking. If they can’t find anything, I suppose they’ll take me to Da Phuoc Cemetery. It’s far from home, but at least I won’t be cremated,” Tam said.
She refused to be cremated after the trauma of her mother’s cremation 19 years ago. Tam said she felt sad and tormented at the time, thinking that her mother had to suffer the pain and the heat.
Thanh, another resident of HCM City, also said he was afraid of burning. His family has a very limited income but Thanh wishes for his body to be taken back to his hometown in Binh Dinh Province, despite the cost for the long trip.
Crowded residential areas present a huge problem for anyone wishing to be buried in the city. One man bought a 200 square metre piece of land as a family cemetery. But a few years later, houses and apartments surrounded the land.
When the family was holding a funeral ceremony last year, the residents living around the cemetery came out and complained. They were afraid of the environmental implications, and they were only able to bury their relative after the police were called to calm the situation.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
