Abby cremated in Buddhist ceremony

Family members and friends said their final goodbye to dismembered 28-year-old model Abby Choi Tin-fung yesterday, followed by cremation services at a Buddhist temple in Ngong Ping.

Choi's husband, Chris Tam, was seen holding his wife's picture while getting in the pink hearse.

Tam and Choi's mother, Cheung Yin-fa, arrived at the pink- themed Tai Wai Po Fook Memorial Hall before 8 am to lead 100 of the tragic model's closest friends and family members to bid farewell to her remains, which was recreated using 3D printing technology.

Buddhist monks conducted a ceremony before a black hearse, draped with white and pink roses and pink curtains, loaded Choi's coffin and departed for Po Lin Monastery's Hoi Wui Ling Tap, in Ngong Ping, for cremation. Just after 10 am, Tam, wearing sunglasses and a mask, boarded the hearse holding her beloved's portrait.

Other guests left the memorial hall in coaches, while some family members, including Cheung and Choi's four children, were in private vehicles heading to the monastery. The hearse arrived at the monastery at 11.50am and the cremation started at 1pm. The urn with Choi's ashes would be placed in the monastery for tributes.

Preparations for the two-day funeral lasted two months, as the most difficult part was the recreation of Choi before she was dismembered, which cost about HK$2 million.

More than 1,000 relatives and friends attended the funeral on Sunday, and 80 percent were relatives from Hainan whom Cheung invited.

Wreaths from Choi's friends were seen at the funeral, including those of actor-singer Aaron Kwok Fu-shing and his wife, Moka Fang Yuan, TVB executive Virginia Lok Yee-ling and singer Calvin Choy Yat-chi.

Choi's ex-husband Alex Kwong Kong-chi, 28; his father Kwong Kau, 65; and brother Anthony Kwong Kong-kit, 31, were charged with murdering Choi in a village house in Tai Po on February 21.

Choi's former mother-in-law, Jenny Li Sui-heung, 63, was charged with perverting the course of justice for allegedly destroying evidence against herself on February 23.

All four former family members of Choi were remanded in jail until their next court appearance on July 31 as the police need more time to further examine more than 30 items involved in the crime, including knives, electric saws and hammers.