Representatives of the Macau Association of Funeral Service Providers, along with directly-elected lawmaker Ron Lam U Tou, vice president of the Macau Synergy Association, handed a petition addressed to Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U at Government Headquarters on Rua de S. Lourenço yesterday, calling for the government to license the local funeral services industry and to solve the problem of embalming services being monopolised, regulating the whole industry.
Philip Cheung Chi Wai, who heads the Macau Association of Funeral Service Providers, told reporters that the private Kiang Wu Funeral Parlour has a dedicated room for embalming human remains, which is the only room in Macau that has been approved by the Health Bureau (SSM) for the service, adding that whenever the bereaved family requests the funeral parlour for assistance in the embalmment, they can only choose the company designated by the funeral parlour for the whole funeral procedure before the body can be embalmed, which, according to Cheung, means that it functions like a market monopoly because it is restricting residents’ choice of funeral services.
According to Cheung, in line with the mainland’s regulations, human remains in Macau must undergo chemical embalming and have an embalmment certificate issued before the body can be transported to the mainland for cremation.
Meanwhile, Lam said the government should implement licensing regulations for the industry, so as to enable the industry to develop healthily in the long run, pointing out that the proportion of cremations in Macau is about 70 to 80 percent, showing that funeral services are essential in people’s daily life.
Macau still does not have its own crematorium because of which all cremations need to be carried out in Zhuhai.
Macau Association of Funeral Service Providers President Philip Cheung Chi Wai (third from left) and directly-elected lawmaker Ron Lam U Tou (second from left), vice president of the Macau Synergy Association, talk to reporters yesterday before handing their petition addressed to Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U, outside Government Headquarters on Rua de S. Lourenço. – Photo: Yuki Lei
