Breaking: Anita Mui’s brother is offering HK$50,000 of his own money as a reward for information that leads to her ashes being found, three months after the legendary singer’s remains were suspected stolen from a Hong Kong temple.
Mui Kai-ming learned about the situation only when journalists called him. “Stealing someone’s ashes is truly so immoral,” he said, adding that he would pay the reward to anyone who provides a valid lead.
According to Taiwan’s Sanli News on October 11 and an October 10 notice from Mui’s international fan club, a fan visiting the Hai Hui Pagoda at Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island on July 18 found the screws on the nameplate at her enshrinement spot loosened. Looking inside, the urn was gone. The family promptly filed a police report.
The family says the police investigation has run nearly three months with no progress. Mui’s mother passed away at the end of August, leaving the family exhausted and suffering a double blow. They have now gone public and are asking anyone who visited the temple between January and mid-July this year and saw anyone suspicious or has dashcam footage to come forward.
Mui died of cervical cancer in 2003 at the age of 40. Her ashes were enshrined at the pagoda per her mother’s wishes, and her tablet was inscribed only with her childhood nickname, Jinui, with no portrait, to protect her privacy.
The temple, however, is not convinced a theft occurred. Per Hong Kong’s HK01, a monk said the screws could have loosened naturally from expansion and contraction, noting that the pagoda has CCTV and patrols, no other urns were reported missing, and no ransom demands were ever received. Police are still determining whether a criminal case is involved.
Mui Kai-ming also said he received no contact from the fan club or the police, and admitted he has not visited his sister’s resting place once this year.
