HONG KONG, Oct 12 — The ashes of late Hong Kong Cantopop singer Anita Mui have reportedly been stolen from a columbarium at Hong Kong’s Po Lin Monastery, with no arrests made nearly three months after the disappearance.
According to Hong Kong media outlet The Standard, the incident was discovered on July 18 when a fan visiting the monastery to pay respects noticed that the screws on the door of the compartment containing Anita’s urn were loose and the urn was missing.
The fan subsequently alerted Anita’s family and reported the matter to the police.
With no significant progress in the investigation, Anita’s family and fan club made a joint appeal for public information on Saturday (Oct 10), the day that would have marked the singer’s 63rd birthday.
Sources cited by The Standard said no ransom demand had been made, and no other urns at the columbarium were reported missing.
During a livestream early on Sunday, Poon Siu-man, a close friend of Anita’s mother, explained that the family and fan club had decided to disclose the incident in hopes of drawing greater media and public attention.
The announcement was made after longtime fans gathered for their annual commemoration of Anita’s birthday, with the family hoping that public assistance could help identify those responsible and recover the urn.
Another fan club, Mui Nation, described the incident as “extremely absurd and contrary to ethics and morality,” The Standard reported.
The club called for a thorough police investigation and urged the columbarium’s management to review potential security lapses and account for any shortcomings. — AsiaOne
