Read on the news about a talk on death and inspired me to write this piece.
Several years ago, I read about a story 《像我这样的一个女子》("A Woman Like Me") by the renowned HK writer Xi Xi (real name: Zhang Ai Lun/ Zhang Yan 张彦、张爱伦) and till now, it still leaves a deep impression on me. The story is about this funeral makeup artist who was discriminated and looked down upon by society. When her boyfriend found out about her job, he left her. She was devastated but knew that someone like her would never find true love. Even though this is just a story, I think it reflects something about society and human beings: the fear of death and anything to do with the dead. I have not come across any of this makeup artist who can share stories with me but in this male-dominated industry, the spirit and determination of these ladies are worth mentioning:
A very short writeup about the Ang sisters of Ang Yew Seng funeral parlour:
A more detailed one in Chinese:
http://news.omy.sg/News/Local%2BNews/Story/OMYStory201004091526-142424.html
你怕死吗？我不能说我不怕...
但想到那些女性殡仪化妆师/礼仪师必须面对社会的种种歧视、冷眼看待，死还真的那么可怕吗？
你怕死吗？我不能说我不怕...
但想到那些女性殡仪化妆师/礼仪师必须面对社会的种种歧视、冷眼看待，死还真的那么可怕吗？
Picture: http://www.eslite.com/product.aspx?pgid=1001110891708735
For those who are interested in the above topic, a friend recommended this/ 对以上课题有兴趣者，友人介绍了这本书:
ReplyDelete梁凤萦《殡仪》
内容简介：
坊简有不少讲述灵界的书籍，但深入介绍殡仪这行业的却甚少见。本书访问了八个与殡仪业有关的工作人员，例如长生店负责人、喃呒师傅、遗体化妆师等，除了披露他们入行的经过，还会叙述他们的灵异遭遇、入行后对生死看法的改变等，希望读者看后，对神秘的殡仪从业员有更正面的认识，并同时提醒读者，珍惜眼前的一切。
为了使内容兼具实用性，第二部分以实用资料为主，内容包括丧葬程序、宜忌、殡仪馆查询等，好让读者对处理身后事有基本概念。
第三部分则会带读者深入灵寝室，一睹如何为死人化妆、穿衣，图文并茂，由于过程甚少公开，所以绝对能满足读者的好奇心，刺激起他们的阅读兴趣。
http://www.characters-books.com/books/tw/books/detail.jsp?bookid=323