The funeral procession sets off for Lantau Island, where Choi’s remains will be cremated. - SCMP
HONG KONG (South China Morning Post): Family and friends of slain Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung bade their final farewell to her on Monday (June 19) as a funeral procession brought her remains to Po Lin Monastery for cremation.
Choi’s partner Chris Tam and her mother Cheung Yin-fa were among the first to arrive with Buddhist monks at around 8am to conduct final rituals at Po Fook Memorial Hall in Tai Wai.
The private two-day wake deviated from the traditional black-and-white colour theme and was instead held in pink, said to be Choi’s favourite shade.
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Similar to arrangements on the first day, police set up a press area across the street, next to the Sha Tin Forensic Medical Centre, for around a dozen media members on site to cover the funeral.
About 150 black-clad guests were seen trickling through in the morning to pay their last respects as Choi’s remains were loaded onto a hearse. Some guests circled the vehicle to take turns catching their last glimpse of the coffin.
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Just after 10am, Choi’s hearse, which was draped with rows of pink roses, white orchids and pink ribbons, left the memorial hall for Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island, with Tam in a passenger seat clutching a framed image of his late partner.
Guests then boarded at least three large coaches headed for the monastery, while some family members, including Cheung and young children believed to be Choi’s, left in their own vans. Choi, 28, leaves behind four children, two fathered by her ex-husband and the younger pair by Tam.
Hundreds of mourners on Sunday attended Choi’s funeral, with wreaths from celebrities such as Calvin Choy Yat-chi of Cantopop group Grasshopper and superstar Aaron Kwok Fu-shing, who’s wife Moka Fang Yuan was the socialite’s close friend.
Choi’s partial remains – her skull, legs and some broken ribs – were discovered on the ground floor of a three-storey house at Lung Mei Tsuen in Tai Po in late February, three days after the 28-year-old went missing.
Her other body parts remain missing despite extensive searches in a landfill in the New Territories and a cemetery in Tseung Kwan O.
Her ex-husband Alex Kwong Kong-chi, 28, his father Kwong Kau, 65, and older brother Anthony Kwong Kong-kit, 32, have been remanded in custody on a joint murder charge.
Choi’s former mother-in-law Jenny Li Sui-heung, 63, was charged with perverting the course of justice in relation to the case, and is also in custody after failing to secure bail for a second time last month.
