The number of people being cremated or getting “green” burials is increasing, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday ahead of Tomb Sweeping Day, which falls on Friday next week.
Cremations reached a record of 96.3 percent in 2017, up from 88.1 percent in 2008, ministry data showed.
The ratio of green burials — such as tree, flower and sea burials in which incense is not burned and steles are not erected — increased from 0.47 percent in 2008 to 4.5 percent in 2017, meaning 7,743 people were buried that way in 2017, the data showed.
Photo: CNA
Local customs are evolving with an aging population, while funeral operations and facilities have been modernized and made environmentally friendly, the ministry said.
There are 36 venues across the nation for green burials, with a list on the ministry’s Web site, it said.
The Taipei City Government said it provides green burial services for free.
In flower and tree burials, the ashes are buried in a designated park, while in sea burials, the ashes are placed in a paper box and placed in the ocean in a ceremony on a boat.
The increase in environmental burials can be attributed to people having fewer children and being more inclined to pay their respects to the deceased in ways that are simpler than traditional methods, Taipei Mortuary Service Office head Hong Jin-da (洪進達) said.
Meanwhile, the ministry reminded people to extinguish fires and collect garbage after tomb sweeping activities on the public holiday, as joss paper, or ghost money, that is left burning could spark larger fires.
A total of 2,157 fires were reported from March 24 to April 8 last year, up from 1,958 in the same period in 2017, it said.
People could offer flowers and fruit, and limit the use of joss paper and incense sticks to prevent fire and air pollution, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
IN FULL SWING: Recall drives against lawmakers in Hualien, Taoyuan and Hsinchu have reached the second-stage threshold, the campaigners said Campaigners in a recall petition against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) in Taichung yesterday said their signature target is within sight, and that they need a big push to collect about 500 more signatures from locals to reach the second-stage threshold. Recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) are also close to the 10 percent threshold, and campaigners are mounting a final push this week. They need about 800 signatures against Chiang and about 2,000 against Yang. Campaigners seeking to recall Lo said they had reached the threshold figure over the
RSS