‘Body restoration’ of Abby Choi likely to be more complicated than expected, experts say, as Hong Kong columbarium takes the job
- Source says Po Fook Hill Columbarium in Sha Tin will manage all funeral arrangements
- Family of deceased believed to have opted for 3D printing to restore body parts, with one industry expert saying full recreation could cost at least HK$100,000
A source familiar with the situation said Po Fook Hill Columbarium in Sha Tin, one of the largest facilities of its kind in the city, would manage all arrangements for the funeral, which was also expected to feature Buddhist rituals.
“Choi’s family has entrusted Po Fook Hill with the task of all the funeral matters, including the restoration works of her body,” the source said on Thursday. “All her family members, relatives and friends have been invited to her funeral ceremony. Her remains will be cremated.”
According to an invitation seen by the Post, the vigil is expected to take place at Po Fook Memorial Hall on June 18. Her family is expected to book the entire funeral parlour for the service.
It will be followed by a ceremony the next morning before the remains are taken to Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island for cremation.
On the firm’s website, a standard Buddhist funeral package costs at least HK$47,000 (US$6,000).
A salesman from the venue told the Post it still had space for bookings on the same day as the planned funeral.
Abby Choi’s face ‘to be recreated with 3D printing’ for funeral in Hong Kong
A source familiar with the funeral arrangements said the family studied the possibilities of using technology to recreate her face for the skull. Options included high-end 3-dimensional printing.
Horace Sun Haoran, chief technology officer of medical 3D printing firm Koln 3D Technology, said a lifelike, true-to-size model of a human head could be constructed. Multijet printers could be used after a 3D image of the head was produced, he said.
Photos of the deceased and a 3D scan of their skull would be needed to create the digital model for printing, Sun said. While it was possible to produce a 3D model of a person’s head from photos, the accuracy and detail would be reduced, he said.
However, price and time needed could vary widely depending on the detail of the 3D recreation. If a company was to produce a life-size model of a disfigured deceased person from scratch, Sun estimated the entire process could take around three months, at a cost of at least HK$100,000.
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“The workload needed for a figure like this would not be priced at just tens of thousands of dollars, as the cost for early-stage modelling would be very high. However, the printing work involved is not difficult,” Sun said.
The use of 3D printing technology to reconstruct faces for funerals is rare in Hong Kong, with families relying on traditional mortuary make-up because of concerns over cost and time, according to industry insiders.
Experts detailed the more common practices after the Post learned Choi’s family planned to use the technology to have her face recreated, allowing grieving relatives a chance to say goodbye at her coming funeral.
Kwok Hoi-pong, chairman of the Funeral Business Association in Hong Kong, said the use of 3D printing to restore disfigured faces was unheard of in the city, although some families opted for tailor-made silicone masks.
“Current technology enables the use of silicone [masks], but that’s rare as it takes too long and funerals usually take place in a month [after death],” Kwok said.
He said it would take a few months to produce a silicone face mask. Measurements of the person’s head would have to be sent overseas, usually to Europe or Australia, for a mould to be made and cast into silicone. The mask would be put over the deceased’s skull for an open casket viewing.
Kwok, a funeral director, said costs varied widely, depending on the undertaker coordinating the process and the extent of the recreation of facial parts. A full face reconstruction could cost up to six figures in Hong Kong dollars, he said.
Traditional mortuary make-up costs range from HK$1,000 to around HK$10,000.
“If the entire [face] is gone, with only the skull left, then [restoration] would have to be done with this technology,” Kwok said. “If there’s nothing left for the undertaker, it would be difficult to work with.”
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Peggy Yuen, CEO of MakeOmnia, a 3D printing solutions firm, said the technology it specialised in could produce body parts but there were only a few companies in Hong Kong capable of bioprinting.
“The degree of resemblance depends on what kind of materials you use. It can be human tissue or animal tissue. The cost and time taken will depend on the materials used, the weight of the body part and its density.”
But most bioprinting in the city was for medical purposes in universities or hospitals, she said.
Jay Tse, owner of VPrint3D Limited in Kwai Chung, said his firm had created body parts mostly for medical use, adding it could cost up to HK$5,000 to produce a head using a polymer.
“The prerequisite for 3D printing the head is to have a 3D scan of the skull to get the data about Choi’s skull structure. Without the data, it’s impossible to construct her head with 3D printing technology,” he told the Post.
“The material used for the head is usually a polymer and it would cost between HK$3,000 and HK$5,000, depending on its size. It takes about three days of work to create the head. I usually take orders for medical purposes, rarely for funerals.”
They scan photos provided by family members to build a 3D model, usually within two hours. A 3D facial mask is then made within a day using resin, plaster, silicone and fibre before undertakers apply make-up and a wig.
Her former spouse, Alex Kwong Kong-chi, 28, his father, Kwong Kau, 65, and elder brother Anthony Kwong Kong-kit, 32, are remanded on a joint murder charge for allegedly killing the model.
Kwong’s mother, Jenny Li Sui-heung, 63, who has been charged with perverting the course of justice, has also been denied bail.
Additional reporting by Clifford Lo
