"Sis, where are you?" Three months on... Actress's urn vanishes without a trace

The late Anita Mui helped lead Hong Kong's golden age of cinema and Cantopop
Urn at a monastery columbarium has been missing since July
Police launched an investigation after the family reported it
A fan discovered it missing while visiting the c

It has emerged that the urn containing the ashes of the late actress and singer Anita Mui, known as the “Madonna of Asia” and a leading figure in the golden age of Hong Kong cinema and Cantopop, has gone missing, prompting a police investigation.

On October 12, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing the South China Morning Post (SCMP) and other outlets, that Mui’s missing urn had sparked controversy in Hong Kong. On October 10, her international fan club released a statement on social media on behalf of her family, saying that the urn had been missing since July. According to the statement, on July 18, a fan visiting the Hall of Haehoe, a columbarium at Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island, Hong Kong, to pay tribute to Mui noticed something unusual.

The late actress and singer Mui Anita, who led the golden age of Hong Kong cinema and Cantopop. SCMP

The screws securing the nameplate on the niche where the urn was kept were loose, and the urn that should have been inside was nowhere to be seen, the statement said. The fan immediately alerted Mui’s family, who reported the matter to police. However, about three months later, the urn’s whereabouts remain unknown. Hong Kong police also confirmed that they received a report on July 18 about property missing from a temple on Lantau Island.

Police classified the case as a “request for police assistance” and assigned it to the Lantau Police District’s serious crime investigation team. No arrests have been made in connection with the case so far. The news shocked fans, particularly as the family made it public on October 10, the date Mui would have turned 63 had she been alive.

In their statement, the family said they were suffering considerable emotional distress because the investigation had made little progress over several months. They appealed to the public to help recover the urn as soon as possible so that Mui could rest in peace once more. The family is seeking information, in particular, from anyone who visited the monastery between January and mid-July this year and saw anyone acting suspiciously, or who has relevant dashcam footage.

Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui in the film "Rouge." The Asia Business Daily archive.

After Mui died in 2003, her ashes were placed in the Hall of Haehoe at Po Lin Monastery in accordance with her family’s wishes. The family reportedly chose not to put a photograph in the niche, hoping she would rest in peace, and used her affectionate nickname, “Juyeo,” instead of her real name. The circumstances surrounding the urn’s disappearance remain unclear. Local Hong Kong media have reported that the family has not received any extortion calls demanding money in exchange for the urn’s return. Police are investigating the circumstances, including whether an actual theft took place.

Anita Mui, a star who defined the golden age of Hong Kong popular culture, was born in 1963. In 2003, she revealed that she was battling cervical cancer. She died on December 30 that year at the age of 40. After rising to fame as a singer in the 1980s, she also made her mark in film, helping lead Hong Kong cinema’s golden age alongside Leslie Cheung, Chow Yun-fat, and Maggie Cheung. Her best-known films include “A Better Tomorrow III,” “The Return of the Condor Heroes,” and “The Heroic Trio.” Her commanding stage presence and distinctive music earned her the nickname “the Madonna of Asia.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.