VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - It's stirred up quite the cultural controversy this week. People living in a luxury high-rise condo at UBC are against a proposed hospice that's supposed to be built next door.
Most of the people living in the condo are Asian and Professor of Chinese Religions Paul Crowe, who's also the director of SFU's David Lam Centre, says concerns about cultural differences are being misunderstood.
He explains people are trivializing their deeply-rooted beliefs.
"And it's based on the assumption the world as we understand it is a unified, single place that's inhabited by both the living and the spirits of the deceased; and there's this deeply held concern that we need to keep the spirits of the deceased separate from the living."
Crowe adds it's not just a "not in my backyard" phenomenon. "There are reasons why 'not in my backyard' is not simply about real estate values or worries about bringing bad luck; it goes deeper than that."
According to Chinese beliefs, the spirits of the dead must be separated from the living and Crowe says that's why they're upset. Another reason he believes they're angry is because no one gave them the head's up about hospice plans in the first place.
A petition is currently going around, and a protest is also being planned for next week.