More people are seeking eco-friendly burials, with 7 percent of people still using traditional burials, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday, releasing its latest statistics on funereal preferences to coincide with Tomb Sweeping Day today.
The statistics show that 92.83 percent of people are cremated after they die.
Department of Civil Affairs division head Tang Keng-shen (唐根深) said an elderly woman in Tainan filed a request with the Tainan Danei Tree Burial Special Zone several months before she died to be buried there.
Photo: EPA
He said that the woman had not informed her family members of her decision, and it was not until after she was cremated that an employee at the crematorium told family members that she had registered for a natural burial.
He said her family members were at first surprised at her decision, but later obliged to her desire to “bond with nature.”
Due to limited space, most Taiwanese opt for cremation, and the number of people who say they would prefer to be buried has decreased sharply, Tang said.
Even though more people have embraced environmental burial methods, the number of people choosing natural burial make up just about 1 percent of the number of people cremated, he said.
Since the ministry began promoting eco-friendly burials in 2001, more than 16,000 people have adopted alternative burial methods, such as tree burials or flower burials, he added.
There are 29 natural burial sites at public cemeteries nationwide, including the Yongai Sanctuary and Jhengshan Sanctuary in Taipei; the Sanjhih Cherry Blossoms Sanctuary of Lives in New Taipei City; the Gueisih Sanctuary in Taichung; and the Tainan Danei Tree Burial Zone.
Aside from tree burial, the most popular among natural burial methods, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan together hold an annual sea burial ceremony, which has served more than 1,000 people since it was introduced in 2001.
Tree and flower burials involve placing ashes into biodegradable urns and burying them among groves at natural sites, Tang said.
Family members of the deceased do not burn ghost money at natural burial sites, instead mourning their loved ones in silence, he said.
A study published by online booking platform Expedia revealed searches for travel to Taipei have ballooned 2,786 percent following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions due to the city being a “designation dupe” for Seoul. The TikTok trend for duping — referring to substituting a designation for a more inexpensive alternative — helped propel interest in Taipei, it said in a consumer survey titled “Unpack ‘24,” which was conducted from September to October in 14 countries. Location dupes are “every bit as delightful as the tried-and-true places travelers love,” Expedia trend tracker Melanie Fish said of the year’s popular alternatives, which
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
A small-scale protest that called on the government to cancel its plan to welcome Indian migrant workers in a bid to tackle Taiwan’s labor shortage was held in Taipei yesterday. During the protest, comprised of a few dozen people staged in front of the Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard, the protest’s chief initiator, a woman identified only as “Yuna” said they wanted the central government to reconsider allowing migrant workers from India to enter Taiwan. Most people in Taiwan had little knowledge about the potential plan to allow in Indian migrant workers until a report in the media last month, she
STABILITY AND CHANGE: Flagging in recent polls, Ko this week pledged to maintain President Tsai’s foreign policy, with an emphasis on improving China relations Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday reiterated that he is “deep-green at heart” in response to accusations that he is pivoting his campaign to align closer with the ideology of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the face of flagging polls. Ko made the remark at an agricultural policy conference in Taipei, repeating his comments from an interview with CTS News a day earlier. Ko told the CTS host that he would continue to pursue President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national defense and foreign policy in general, but with an emphasis on establishing a rapport with