Pretty in pink for final goodbye to slain socialite

Dismembered model Abby Choi Tin-fung had a closed-door funeral yesterday at the Po Fook Memorial Hall, Tai Wai, decorated with her favorite pink color, where about 1,000 close relatives and friends bid her goodbye.

It is understood that the family spent about HK$2 million to HK$3 million to have the 28-year-old Choi's face and body recreated using 3D printing technology.

Choi's body was first reconstructed overseas before being sent to the mainland for completion. The body was regenerated after two months of work, sources said.

Her body was placed on a bed covered by a canopy in a 100-square-foot room.

A source said relatives were initially not allowed to see Choi's body, but many of them demanded to see her and they were eventually allowed to view it.

"There was a long queue for the body viewing and relatives waited in line for around 20 minutes," he said, adding the room was guarded by five staffers.

The source said he was surprised the body was so lifelike after the restoration even though they could only view it for a brief moment.

"The restoration was successful that the body was just like [Choi] when she was alive, the hair and the face are all so similar to her."

The source said the funeral was prepared by Choi's mother, Cheung Yin-fa ,and husband, Chris Tam, who arrived at the memorial hall at 3pm.

Choi's mother attached great importance to the funeral and invited relatives from Hainan for three days, accounting for over 80 percent of the mourners.

More than 1,000 guests were expected to have attended the funeral from 4pm to 10pm.

Choi's in-laws arranged shuttle buses to carry relatives to the memorial hall, and all guests had to present an invitation to the ceremony.

Her body will be sent to Po Lin Monastery for a Buddhist ceremony before cremation at the monastery's Hoi Wui Ling Tap at 9am today.

Both Po Fook Memorial Hall and the Hoi Wui Ling Tap were temporarily closed for the funeral and final rites.

Floral wreaths were sent to the funeral by Choi's friends, including actor - singer Aaron Kwok Fu-shing and his wife Moka Fang Yuan, TVB executive Virginia Lok Yee-ling and singer Calvin Choy Yat-chi.

The mourning hall was decorated in Choi's favorite pink color with the driveway covered in pink gauze while flower wreaths were placed outside.

Choi's five-foot-wide portrait placed in the middle of the hall was the cover of a French fashion magazine, L'OFFICIEL, in which she smiles in a champagne-colored dress. Several other photos were also placed, including some of her modeling images.

Four pink heart-shaped funeral wreaths from her husband, children, parents and parents-in-law were placed in front of the photo. They bore the inscriptions "Great Mother Forever Remembered" and "Loving Wife Forever."

stacy.shi@singtaonewscorp.com