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November 22, 2017

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Online way to honor ancestors

A lack of space for cemeteries in crowded Hong Kong clashes with the Chinese tradition of reverence for one鈥檚 ancestors.

But one entrepreneur uses virtual reality software to reconcile the two, allowing people to honor Confucian traditions of filial obligation in the Chinese territory where it can cost up to US$130,000 to store the ashes of loved ones.

Anthony Yau鈥檚 firm, iVeneration.com, offers users the ability to create virtual headstones anywhere in an augmented reality landscape of Hong Kong, including such unlikely places as a city park.

The cost savings aside, Yau expects his business model to appeal to young residents who are conscious of the environment.

鈥淭he dead are taking so much more space than those who are still alive, as those buried use that piece of land for many years,鈥 he said.

Yau, who hopes to launch the website in the first quarter of next year, has already drawn 300 users.

Filial piety, or respect for parents and older people, is a paramount virtue in the Confucian tradition.

Alex Lee, 46, a technology worker, uses iVeneration to pay his respects to his late grandfather. 鈥淓veryone is aware that the lack of land is a problem in Hong Kong, and the government has been encouraging green burial,鈥 said Lee, as he leafed through an album of family photographs.

鈥淔or me, you don鈥檛 have to go to a thing to remember those passed away. It鈥檚 all in your heart.鈥


 

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