- Please VOTE "NO" on Star Advertiser's online poll question: "Do you support the proposed Manoa Banyan Court senior-housing project? " and help send a message. To vote, you need to be a Star Advertiser subscriber. Ask your friends/family to do same.
- On 09 Jan 2023, Civil Beat published an article on aging Oahu cemeteries, quoting LYCA President Charles Wong as follows: “Once the (Manoa Chinese) cemetery is full, and there are no more plots left to be sold, the income stream dries up, and then you don’t have the money to maintain the cemetery anymore.” Charles Wong also says the Manoa Chinese Cemetery is facing bankruptcy due to dwindling plot sales.
- Former LYCA Trustee Lance Luke debunked Charles Wong's claims in his email below:
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Lance Luke <lanceluke1@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Jan 8, 2023 at 4:06 PM
Subject: Letter to Editor
To: <letters@staradvertiser.com>
Please allow me to set the record straight concerning the article titled" Residents split on plan for senior housing in Manoa" that was published in the Star Advertiser on 1/8/23.In your article, President Charles Wong of Lin Yee Chung Association made false and misleading statements such as "the cemetery is nearly filled to capacity" and "the cemetery has nearly run out of burial plots to sell". If that were really the case, there would be no land on which to build their proposed housing development.
The proposed housing development Manoa Banyan Court has been designed to be built on 4 CPR parcels totalling 8.68 acres. This acreage has been earmarked for cemetery use for many many years. 8.68 acres can fit thousands of burial plots and several columbariums.
Please do not be misled by Mr. Wong, and instead rely on the real and true facts.
/s/ Lance Luke
Former Trustee, Board Member, and Executive Committee Chair
of Lin Yee Chung Association (Manoa Cemetery)
- This 21 Aug 2021 oral history of Charles Wong and LYCA Superintendent/Trustee Robert Wong, shows LYCA fails to pursue/implement perpetual care measures to fund cemetery operations. According to Robert Wong (see pg 5), Manoa Chinese Cemetery has 8,000 plots, of which 200 are unused. When asked if perpetual maintenance is included in their burial costs, here's what Robert Wong says:
"At the present time we are trying to implement perpetual care, but up to this point we are having a tough time keeping up with the cost of caring for the grounds of the cemetery. Over the 170 years that the Chinese families have been using Manoa Chinese Cemetery, they have not been burdened by the perpetual cost. Quarterly or twice annually fees to maintain the cemetery were never established."
Unlike other Oahu Chinese cemeteries (eg, Pauoa) why doesn't LYCA pursue charging a modest fee to plot owners (say $25-30 per year)?