Newsletter No. 443

10 443 • 19.9.2014 口談實錄 Viva Voce ’ 本刊由香港中文大學資訊處出版，每月出版兩期。截稿日期及稿例載於 www.iso.cuhk.edu.hk/chinese/newsletter/ 。 The CUHK Newsletter is published by the Information Services Office, CUHK, on a fortnightly basis. Submission guidelines and deadlines can be found at www.iso.cuhk.edu.hk/english/newsletter/ . 生物醫學學院防腐師 伍桂麟先生 Mr. Ng Kwai-lun Pasu Embalmer, School of Biomedical Sciences 可以說說你的工作範圍嗎？ 我負責遺體防腐工作、標本製作和解剖室教學運作，此外還有 無言老師遺體捐贈計劃（ www.sbs.cuhk.edu.hk/bd/ ） 的運作 和推廣，包括答覆電話查詢，促進捐贈者或其家人與大學的溝 通，就他們對遺體用途的意願和期望，盡量配合。 人們初次得悉你的職業，會有甚麼反應？ 有些人會以為防腐師是做食物加工，是製罐頭的。了解工作性質 後，年紀和我差不多的八十後多會問：對着那麽多遺體，是否很 嚇人？有遇見鬼嗎？成熟點的朋友會關心：這工作對你有甚麽意 義？會影響交女朋友嗎？結婚沒有？ 防腐師須有甚麼素質和訓練？ 首先要對遺體沒有恐懼。很多朋友說：我常常看鬼片、驚慄片， 哪會害怕！其實不然，愈是看得多，愈會害怕。最重要是以平常 心對待，不會有風吹過便覺得那是陰風陣陣。知識和技術可以 補足，耐性和專注是先決條件。入職後會有解剖和防腐訓練，我 也曾到外國進修有關知識。 你是怎樣入行的？ 我在中學並不唸純理科，大學修設計，畢業後曾做設計師，看似 跟現職風馬牛不相及。由於跟親人從事殯儀行業（遺體防腐）， 應徵防腐師一職之前我已有五六年處理遺體的經驗，讓我有點 優勢。到現在我處理過各種死因和年齡的遺體已過千具。 中大接收的遺體主要有甚麼用途？ 主要有三，一是供學習解剖，約每十名學生會用一具遺體作實 習，為期兩年。二是解剖、塑化後，製成標本，交醫科、護理學、 中醫、藥劑和人類生物學等學生學習人體結構。第三是不加防 腐，存放於零下十多度的冰櫃，解凍後以最接近自然的狀況留待 醫生作手術練習或研發用。 港人對捐贈遺體的看法近年可有改變？ 最初一年只有兩三宗捐贈，不足十人登記，到了去年，獲捐贈遺 體八十多具，登記者四千多人。以前人們覺得解剖室很恐怖，連 帶在這兒工作的人也像「烏雲蓋頂」似的。過去三四年，解剖實 驗室及無言老師遺體捐贈計劃主管 陳新安 教授帶領我和同事籌 辦了近百次的參觀和講座，更多市民知道捐贈遺體能幫助學生 和醫生學習，令病人得到更好治理，提高手術成功率，恐懼漸漸 轉為反思—如何把所有人都不可避免的死亡賦予意義？ 工作帶給你甚麽特別體會？ 人生追求的可以很多，但身後沒東西可以帶走，因此在工作上 我追求有意義的回報。 我喜歡和學生聊天，鼓勵他們多用心體會。因為這個計劃，獨居 長者或弱勢社群知道身後事有人料理之餘，也能貢獻社會、遺 愛人間。這些都是非金錢可衡量的回報。 我也開始在公餘參與社會服務，例如在生死教育學會跟醫護人 員和社工學習，把生死的正面訊息帶給市民。 「無言老師」和學生是怎樣的關係？ 一位教授說過，醫科生與遺體相處的態度，足以反映他日後對 病人的態度。來上課的學生才十八歲左右，面對遺體總會戰戰 兢兢。陳新安教授在第一課會訓勉他們，每具遺體都得來不易， 不應視之為工具；並會帶領他們靜默，以表尊敬。 「無言老師」無私奉獻，以身施教。從解剖觀察到逝者生前的病 變，對病患者的痛苦感受更深切。學習結束後，學生會給無言老 師寫感謝卡。他們也曾應家屬要求，火化前在解剖室舉行告別 儀式，甚至有學生將會幫無依的老人撒灰。學生跟「無言老師」 這點點滴滴的溝通，都有助他們吸收知識，反思使命。 請掃描QR碼閱讀全文版 Scan the QR code for the full version Please tell us about the scope of your work. I’m responsible for body embalming, specimen production and the operation of teaching at the dissecting laboratory. I also attend to the promotion and operation of the Body Donation Programme ( www.sbs.cuhk.edu.hk/bd/ ), which includes answering telephone enquiries, liaising between potential donors, their families and the University for the best possible arrangement that fulfils their expectation. How would people respond upon knowing that you are an embalmer? Some people think that an embalmer deals with food processing or canned food. When they know more, those about my same age, the so-called post-80s, would ask: Is it scary facing dead bodies? Have you ever met ghosts? More mature people are more concerned about things like: What does the job mean to you? Will you scare the girls away? Are you married? What qualities and training should an embalmer possess? First of all, you have to be fearless of dead bodies. People who love watching ghost or horror movies claim that they are immune to fright, which is not true. The more you watch these movies, the more easily you will be scared—very often by your own imagination. Patience and focused attention are prerequisites, whereas knowledge and skills can be acquired. There will be on-the-job training on anatomy and embalming. I have been offered a chance to study overseas. How did you join the profession? I was not a science stream student in high school. I majored in design in college and worked as a designer after graduation. These seem to be irrelevant to what I’m doing now. But since I followed my family members to work as embalmers in the funeral business, I already had five to six years of experience dealing with dead bodies before I applied for the post here. This gave me a bit of advantage. So far, I have dealt with the bodies of about 1,000 persons who died of various causes at different ages. What are bodies donated to CUHK used for? First, they are embalmed for medical students for two years of anatomical studies. About 10 students will be assigned a body. Second, they are dissected and plasticized as specimens for teaching in medical, nursing, Chinese medicine, pharmacy and human biology programmes. Third, they are stored in the freezer without being embalmed, and will be used in the most natural condition after defrosting for doctors’ simulated surgical training or research. Have people in Hong Kong changed their views on body donation in recent years? In the first year the Body Donation Programme was launched, there were just a couple of donations and fewer than 10 registrations. Last year alone, we received more than 80 bodies and over 4,000 registrations. In the past, people found the dissecting laboratory creepy, and those who worked here look gloomy. During the past three to four years, Prof. Chan Sun-on , coordinator of the Dissecting Laboratory and Body Donation Programme, led me and other colleagues to organize some 100 visits and talks to promote the programme. Gradually, people know that body donation helps facilitate students' and doctors' learning, and will lead to better cure and higher surgery success rates for patients. Their fear subsides to reflection on how to add meaning to death. What have you learnt from your job? You can pursue many things in life, but you can bring nothing with you after death. So I look for meaningful rewards from my job. I love interacting with students, encouraging them to learn with their heart. The donation programme has been able to bring comfort to some lonely elders and disadvantaged members of society, as they feel relieved to know that their bodies will be taken care of after death, and in that way, they too can contribute to society. These are the non-monetary rewards I get from my job. I begin working as a volunteer after work. I’m learning from medical practitioners and social workers at the Society for Life and Death Education how to spread positive messages about life and death. The donated bodies are honoured as ‘Silent Teachers’. What are their relationships with the students? A professor once said we can foresee how a medical student will treat the patients by observing how he/she treats the dead body under study. Students here are about 18 years old, nervous when facing a dead body. Prof. Chan Sun-on will inaugurate the first lesson by giving a speech, telling them not to take the donated bodies for granted or just treat them as a tool. He will also lead them to observe a moment of silence to show respect to the donors. ‘Silent Teachers’ are exemplary models who make selfless contribution and teach with their bodies, not their words. By studying how the body has been affected by disease, students learn beyond textbooks. After lessons are completed, students would write thank-you cards to their ‘teachers’. Some have organized a ceremony in the laboratory at the request of the family to bid farewell to the teacher before sending the body for cremation. I know that there will be students scattering the ash for a single elderly. Students acquire from these interactions with ‘Silent Teachers’ both knowledge and the ability to reflect on their mission. 觀看錄像，請掃描QR碼或瀏覽以下網址： To watch the video, please scan the QR code or visit: www.iso.cuhk.edu.hk/video/?nsl443-pasu-ng