【被遺忘的專業。殯儀業】遺體運輸公司創辦人衝破禁忌與心理關口 體會工作意義 以尊重面對生死

[The forgotten profession. Funeral Industry】The founder of the body transportation company breaks through taboos and psychological barriers to understand the meaning of work and face life and death with respect

[Ming Pao News] Hong Kong people are most afraid of haunted houses when buying real estate. Recently, a movie has created black humor based on this, and they rush to sweep away the dead bodies that suddenly appear outside their homes. When we met at Wah Fung Street in Hung Hom, where there are many funeral shops, Leung Wai-keung, the founder of the corpse transport company, saw the reporter and asked whether Xi was used to coming here. He said that he hated coming here at first. It is common in Chinese society to have taboos on coffins and corpses. "You asked me to hold the coffin like this and take pictures. (If it had been then) I wouldn't have touched it!" From the initial disgust and fear, Liang Weiqiang devoted himself to the transportation and transportation of corpses for 20 years. After cleaning the haunted house, I finally understood the professionalism and significance of the funeral industry.

At first it was difficult to cross the psychological barrier and I resisted even looking at the coffin.

Liang Weiqiang was engaged in the logistics industry before entering the industry and opened a logistics company in 1996. Around 2000, a friend of his told him that a Filipino domestic helper had passed away in Hong Kong and wanted to ask him to send her body to the Philippines. "My immediate reaction was: Wow! I can't do such a sudden thing. I'm no different from an ordinary person. I just walked as far away as I saw the coffin." He said at that time I have a fear of coffins and find their shape terrifying; I have a disgust with corpses, "not because of religion, but because they feel dirty and hygienic." The company used to transport ordinary goods, and even if Liang wanted to help, he had no way of transporting remains. Unexpectedly, the other party replied that he could teach him how to do it. Liang was curious about why his friend approached him to do it after he knew it, and then he discovered that there is a market demand for the transportation of human remains. Firstly, if you are not familiar with the airlines, you will have difficulties in booking an air transport seat for the human remains. Secondly, the logistics process is very complicated and requires many contacts. Foreign units, but funeral practitioners generally have low English proficiency and may not be able to cope.

It takes three or four years to overcome fear

Liang Weiqiang finally took over the task of transporting the body, and after a while, a second order came to his door. The most difficult thing at first was not the complicated paperwork, but the psychological barrier. Only after three or four years in the industry did he have the courage to look directly into the wooden box containing the coffin, and then slowly touch the coffin. He even clearly remembers when he began to overcome his aversion to dead bodies. Once he wanted to get documents, but he went to the wrong morgue and accidentally saw the body of a Nepali man. "I felt like the body was asleep." Liang Weiqiang happened to witness the moment when the body was lifted up. "I thought how handsome he was, and how quickly he was buried, his body didn't change much, he was no different from an ordinary person. I wasn’t too surprised at first about the remains.”

Witnessing the body with his own eyes cured his heart ailment. Liang Weiqiang continued to engage in body transport and even founded a professional body transport company in 2010. This kind of enterprise is not suitable for selling advertisements. How to reach customers? Some family members find related services through the Internet or introductions from friends. In addition, Liang Weiqiang's company will receive referrals from funeral companies and public institutions, including consulates and churches. "The funeral companies receive referrals, but they don't know how to export, so they will refer them to Us," so he said it is also important to have good relationships with other funeral businesses.

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