gatherings. The typical format is that of a discussion group, whereas Ament’s meditation-style session was specifically tailored for the Garden Gathering. For many, death cafes are just one element – and the entry point – to the so-called death positive movement, a social and philosophical approach to mortality that, in recent years, has spread from London and Los Angeles to major cities in Asia, including Hong Kong.
DRINK TEA, EAT CAKE, DISCUSS DEATH The death positive movement made its first entrance in Hong Kong about five years ago thanks to end-oflife activist Carmen Yau. After 10 years of working at Families of SMA Charitable Trust, an NGO for people with muscular dystrophy (a condition she too suffers from), Yau was emotionally drained. “I was torn up from watching patients die,” she recalls. “It was breaking my heart. I decided to move in another direction.” An online search led her to discover the death cafe franchise. The informal approach of the gatherings – drinking tea and talking about
運動的一個元素和起點。後者是一套面向人生有限的 社會和哲學方法，並在最近幾年從倫敦和洛杉磯向亞 洲的主要城市蔓延，當中包括香港。
喝茶，吃蛋糕，討論死亡 正向死亡運動大約在五年前登陸香港，而這多虧了善終 倡議者游家敏的引入。在脊髓肌肉萎縮症慈善基金工 作十年之後，同樣受此病症困擾的游家敏已精疲力竭。 她回憶道：「在我目睹病患死亡時，我的心都碎 了。我決定要向另一個方向發展。」 一次網絡搜索讓她發現了死亡咖啡館。這種一邊 喝茶一邊討論死亡的非正式聚會方式引起了她的共 鳴。當她聯絡網站，並提出要將這個概念引入香港的 時候，她湊巧發現，死亡咖啡館的兩名美國成員將到 港參加「當代社會喪親與哀傷國際會議」。這個活動 每三年舉辦一次，旨在讓死亡學的學者、專家及頂尖 醫護人員交流知識；他們還會在香港大學主持一次死 亡咖啡館，作為這次研討會的一個環節。
death – resonated with Yau. When she contacted the website about bringing the concept to Hong Kong, she learned that, coincidentally, two of its US members would be in town to take part in the International Conference on Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society (a triennial knowledge-exchange for scholars, leading healthcare professionals and experts in Thanatology, the scientific study of death and associated practices), and host a death cafe session at Hong Kong University as part of the conference. Alongside university staff and NGOs, Yau helped organise Hong Kong’s first death cafe in June 2014, with around 30 participants. Since then, more than 10 death cafes have taken place in various locations around Hong Kong, including art centres, book shops, and coffee shops. Over time a number of individuals have taken up the initiative, including a group of students. For instance, 21-year-old Chuk Ka Lok, a Chinese University of Hong Kong student who goes by Louis, and a group of peers organise death cafes at the Stay Within Bookspace in Chai Wan.
游家敏和大學職員、 NGO 一起，在 2014 年 6 月組 織了香港第一次死亡咖啡館，當時大約有 30 名參加 者。此後，已經有超過 10 次死亡咖啡館活動在香港的 不同地方舉行，包括藝術中心、書店、咖啡店；其間 也有人加入這個倡議行動，包括一群學生。 一個例子是 21 歲的香港中文大學學生祝嘉樂。 他和一班同儕在柴灣的義守書社組織了死亡咖啡館 活動。 祝嘉樂說：「在華人社會，我們不能『講死』， 但這個運動讓我們可以撕掉它的污名。」他同時嘆 息，向最親的人表達心聲往往更難。「我仍然不能告 訴我的父母我正在主持死亡咖啡館。我會這樣講：我 只是在搞一個咖啡館。」 這個聚會的參加者大部份年齡在 31 到 50 歲之間， 而他們多是直接受到死亡影響的人，比如護士、紓緩 治療工作者、照顧者、患有末期病症的人，以及已經 步入人生最後階段的人。 祝嘉樂說：「我們留意到，香港人是通過患病和 住院來瞭解和學習死亡的，但我們希望拓寬關於生 ARIANA 2019
137
