Families priced out of cemetery plots

From a distance: An overview of Vinh Hang Cemetery in Ha Noi's Ba Vi District. Future glimpse: The cemetery's gate, reception area and vehicle parking area. — VNS File Photos Holy mountain: A sanctuary at a cemetery that is located on top of a hill. Rest in peace: Local people carry a casket. Reverence: A couple pray to their ancestors for good luck. Rest in riches: One cemetery's sectors that is made of granite and marble for rich and VIP customers. — VNS Photos Anh Nhan

While speedy development has improved the country's standard of living, little affordable land is left for Viet Nam's cemeteries. Ha Nguyen investigates.

Rapid development and increasing urbanisation in Viet Nam's largest cities have left cemeteries over-crowded and families anxious about being unable to find a plot for their loved ones.

Sprouting offices, apartment buildings and factories may be providing Ha Noi residents with the infrastructure to live, but the diminishing land available leaves little space for the dead.

Viet Nam's famous culture activist and writer Phan Ke Binh (1875-1921) said "men were born from land so when they die they want to be buried there".

Binh also said that Vietnamese place a lot of importance in the plot of land chosen for loved ones' burials because if the land is good, which traditional Vietnamese call dat phat, it will support their descendants with health, and good business and life prospects. If the land is not dat phat, the descendants will have bad luck in life and business.

Feng shui researcher Vu Van Bang said: "Contrary to the Western belief that death puts an end to everything, Vietnamese believe that if the dead are buried in good land with good feng shui, their future generations will enjoy happiness and virtue."

Truong Van Hoc, 65, in Ha Noi's Hai Ba Trung District, said his family was finding it very hard to find a small plot of land for his chronically-ill father who could die at any time, particularly since the 50 year-old Van Dien Cemetery, one of Ha Noi's largest cemeteries, was closed late last month.

"We are very poor; we can't afford to buy a resting place for my father in a modern cemetery such as Vinh Hang Cemetery Park. Although my father's wish is to be buried, if we can't afford to buy some land, we'll have him cremated," Hoc said.

Hoang Thanh Thai, head of the Ha Noi Funeral Service, said the Ha Noi authorities have decided to give families VND3 million (US$150) to cremate adults and VND1.5 million ($75) for children under the age of six.

The decision is aimed to encourage people to cremate their dead relatives in an effort to save land and be more hygienic.

"Van Dien has six crematoriums capable of performing 60 cremations daily. Ha Noi will invest VND290 billion ($14.5 million) to build another crematorium area in the capital's Dong Anh District to meet increasing demand," said Thai.

He added that after removing the remaining 9,000 tombs by 2013, Van Dien will be upgraded into a modern cemetery where urns will be kept in landscaped gardens by 2015.

Tran Thi Dy, 74, an overseas Vietnamese from the US, was happy because she was finally able to buy a plot of land in the Vinh Hang Cemetery Park after she had returned to Viet Nam several times to find a resting place for her husband and herself when they die.

"We are Vietnamese, and although we have lived abroad for more than 30 years, we still have a strong wish to be buried in our homeland," said Dy.

"Vinh Hang Cemetery Park is so modern and beautiful that my children called it a paradise for dead people," said Dy, adding that a lot of overseas Vietnamese abroad wish to be buried in Viet Nam.

Located about 70km from the west of Ha Noi, the 22ha cemetery in Ba Vi District, has asphalt road snaking up a hill.

"It really looks like a beautiful, clean and green park," one of Dy's sons named Duong Quang Chan said.

"We could never have imagined the beauty of the place without seeing it for ourselves," he said.

When visitors enter the cemetery through a black gate bearing a gold engraving of its name, they face a solitary white archway. Four watchtowers on the hill greet the visitors and guide them to the cemetery's different sites.

Through the archway, brick paths ascend into the cemetary leading to a ceremonial hall, square, temple, pagoda, gardens and houses used to preserve the ashes of those who chose to be cremated.

Tombs are covered with colourful flowers. These tombs resemble "garden palaces" and are equally enjoyable for the living. Many areas have tables and park benches, underground tanks to water trees and flowers.

Nguyen Van Cuc, 83, who bought a 200sq.m plot of land here in 2000 at VND1 million ($50) per square metre (with prices now at VND7 million or $350 per square metre) had his wife buried here last year. He said he would build a temple to worship the god of the soil before paying tribute to his wife at her tomb.

Asked why he bought such large plot of land, Cuc said his land would be a resting place for future generations of the family. Three to four generations would be able to stay together as they had lived together in life under the same roof.

Nguyen Manh Than, director of the Ao Vua Company, owner of Vinh Hang Park, said he wanted the area to be a place where the finest traits of Vietnamese culture in terms of ancestor worship, are preserved and highlighted, so that young generations can understand the cultural traditions of the country.

Designers follow strict regulations on waste treatment and construction of the graves and tombs to prevent their deterioration.

Than was quick to grasp Ha Noi's need for increased space for the dead, especially as space within Ha Noi's boundaries is shrinking. Most cemeteries in the capital have become overcrowded and are polluting their surrounding areas.

He decided to add an additional 16.28ha of land to Vinh Hang Cemetery Park bringing the total to 36.28ha.

Meanwhile, in HCM City, prices of land for the dead are even higher than for the living, said Nguyen Van Linh, deputy director of Vinh Hang Cemetery Park in HCM City.

"Demand for cemetery land in HCM City and its surrounding areas is so high that speculation has pushed the prices of graves even higher than last year," said Linh.

Linh said there are different prices at HCM City's Vinh Hang Cemerety. For example, zone 1, reserved for low-income people, costs from VND15-20 million ($750-1,000) per 5.3sq.m while plots in zone B are reserved for high-income people, with prices reaching VND188 million ($9,400) for 12.6sq.m. In the special zone K the price is VND350 million ($17,500) per 81sq.m.

"The plot prices here are higher compared with other areas because they are of Singapore, Malaysia or Taiwan designs," said Linh.

According to the HCM City Statistics Department, it is expected that by 2020 the city will boast 10 million people, with an estimated 40,000 deceased a year. However cemetery land is severely limited because two of city's biggest cemeteries at Binh Hung Hoa and Da Phuoc have already been closed.

Despite the Government's requests to curb lavish spending on elaborate funerals, the nation's rich people are burning billions of dong away when it comes to saying good-bye to their dearly departed.

Linh said luxury funeral services were becoming increasingly popular in southern cities such as HCM City, Binh Duong and Dong Nai. — VNS