The capacity for people to give of themselves even in hard times is a wonder of the human spirit. Recently this was evident as a forgotten cemetery behind a Hindu temple in Hong Kong was saved by an eager crowd of volunteers.<\/p>\n
Arianne Baldesimo, a Filipino teacher who calls Hong Kong her home, has been in the Hindu Temple at Happy Valley at 8 am for three consecutive Saturday mornings. She put in over eight hours of laborious work to restore a cemetery of fallen South Asian soldiers of the British Army. Arianne is one of the 168 volunteers who freely gave their time to clear overgrown vegetation, painstakingly carry heavy bags of cement over a steep flight of stairs leading to the cemetery, dig, mix, pave, and clean, all to give back the much needed respect and dignity to the untended and overgrown South Asian Hindu Cemetery.<\/p>\n
The Cemetery is a very old site that was gifted to the Hindu Community in the early 1900s and is now being run by the Hindu Association. Forgotten for decades now, the most prominent facet of the site is a white granite memorial that has the names of eight Indian, Sikh, Pathan soldiers etched on it, honouring their services during World War I.<\/p>\n
Azan Marwah, a Hong Kong-based lawyer, along with social worker Jeffery Andrews initiated the restoration work when Azan visited the site on Remembrance Day and found it in a dilapidated state. Jeffery then put out a post on social media, asking for volunteers, and 50 volunteers got together on 6 March to start the first week of restoration work.<\/p>\n\r\n