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Episode details

World Service,07 Sep 2017,23 mins

What Can We Do With Our Dead?

The Inquiry

Available for over a year

Cemeteries around the world are fast running out of space. As more and more people choose to live in cities, some can't even cope with the ashes left after cremation. Deep questions about our communities, cultures and mortality emerge as The Inquiry asks: what can we do with our dead? The programme script says that "only the very wealthiest can afford to rest in the ground in Hong Kong and Singapore". This is true for Hong Kong but Singapore's National Environment Agency has been in touch to say that you do not have to be wealthy to be buried in the government run cemetery. (image: A crowded cemetery in Hong Kong. Photo credit: Dale De La Rey/Getty Images.)

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