Late superstar Anita Mui’s ashes missing in HK

The ashes of late pop superstar Anita Mui (梅艷芳), once dubbed the “Madonna of Asia,” have gone missing from a monastery in Hong Kong, police said yesterday.

The diva of Cantopop died from cervical cancer aged 40 in 2003 after selling millions of records.

Mui’s family went to the police in July after a fan spotted that the urn was no longer in its place, but without going public.

Hong Kong pop star Anita Mui speaks at a news conference in Hong Kong on Sept. 5, 2003.

Photo: AFP

However, on Saturday they issued a statement saying that the lack of progress in the police investigation was causing them “tremendous distress and emotional anguish.”

The statement, coinciding with what would have been Mui’s birthday, triggered outrage from fans.

“I’m really angry, and I feel so sad and heartbroken,” one person wrote on social media on a page devoted to Mui.

Hong Kong police said in a statement yesterday that the case had been referred to the New Territories South Regional Crime Unit for further investigation.

“No arrests have been made as yet. The police will continue to liaise with the complainant and relevant parties and take appropriate follow-up action,” police said.

With her bold and versatile visual style, raunchy stage performances and a stream of hits, Mui transcended the image of Chinese female singers.

Her distinctive, melancholy voice was used for the theme songs in dozens of films and shows, and she remained phenomenally popular right up to her death.

During her heyday in the 1980s, Mui performed for 28 consecutive nights to sold-out houses, breaking the Hong Kong record at the time.

The disappearance of her ashes is not a one-off in Hong Kong.

Last year, those of Hong Kong martial arts star and director Lau Kar-leung (劉家良) also went missing, and his family were reportedly blackmailed. The ashes were recovered months later.