Burial at sea as an option

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
1

Well, I would have preferred Bitan, but the Pacific is good enough for me.

Taipei, March 9 (CNA) Families of 27 deceased residents participated in a sea burial ritual held by the Taipei City government Thursday, during which they took a boat and scattered the ashes of their loved ones in waters off northern Taiwan.

It was the first joint sea burial ceremony held by the city this year, and eight more ceremonies are scheduled for the year, according to Taipei’s Department of Civil Affairs.

A member of one of the families, surnamed Chou, said he followed his father’s wishes to scatter his ashes at sea and expressed hope that his father will rest in peace.

Lan Shih-tsung (藍世聰), commissioner of the Department of Civil Affairs, said that Taipei began its more environmentally friendly sea burial option in 2003. As of 2016, families of 614 dead have chosen to scatter the ashes of their loved ones at sea, he added.

The sea burial ceremony is free of charge and is open to residents from all cities and counties, as well as foreigners, the department said.

In an effort to encourage people to deal with death in a more environmentally friendly way, Taipei has been promoting green burials, including burying the ashes of their loved ones under a tree at a designated area or scattering their ashes at sea.

Green burials offer a sustainable, natural alternative to conventional interment, without concrete vaults and fancy gravestones, and do not take up precious land.

Dunno how ecological it is though.

2

More algae.

3

Great…now the fish we’re eating will have the ashes of dead people in their stomachs. Good thing I’m not a big seafood fan.

4

Considering the number of turds being flushed out to sea, I doubt a bit of dust is anything worth worrying about.

5

Like I said, not a big seafood fan.

6

Don’t forget about leaking radiation and all the other trash that ends up in the sea.

7

Well I was trying not to be too gloomy. Especially as the seafood here is sooo famous and delicious, and famous.

8

You guys know that the fish we consume mostly does not come from waters around here - which is why Taiwanese vessels are all over the world causing trouble. Africa, Latin America, South East Asia, those pesky little islands we fight so hard for between China and Japan…

It is either that or the ones harvested in pools along the coast.

So feel free to have your shrimp cocktails. Oa for oamisua though is harvested in th Southern coast, should be quite… organic.

9

My gramps had his ashes scattered on a beautiful day out on the bay in SF. While scattering his ashes , I accidentally breathed some of it in. So I have a bit of my gramps in me.

And it’s easy to remember him, just by crossing the bay or seeing it in the distance.

10

That stuff always reminds me of something I used to play with as a kid. And the metallic taste of the oa makes me think “heavy metals.”