A Vancouver Province article says that “dozens of angry Asian residents” of an upscale highrise near UBC are going to protest a proposed 15-bed hospice planned next door. According to the residents who are upset, it is a “cultural taboo” to have dying people so close to a residential area (a hospice is a palliative care building for the terminally ill).

One source in the article states 80 per cent of the residents of the 18-storey building are Asian, and are strongly opposed on cultural grounds. But that isn’t the only problem here:

“Units here are worth $1 million,” she added. “We put our life savings into this.”

She said residents are worried the hospice will have a negative impact on their property values.

[...]Qing Lin, who bought a Promontory apartment for $900,000 almost a year ago, said she and her seven year old daughter will have nightmares if the hospice goes ahead.

“We believe that people dying outside will bring us bad luck,” she added. “I’m very angry and upset. If I had known it was going to be a hospice, I wouldn’t buy it for half the price.”

It’s more than a little difficult to accommodate the notion that a hospice is bad luck, even if one were inclined to be sensitive to cultural beliefs. But the idea that it will affect property values is similarly ridiculous. Perhaps the statement should be altered to read that it will affect property values within the superstitious Asian community.

But fear not, overpriced million-dollar condos in Vancouver continue to be unaffected by a proposed hospice. There is certainly no shortage of buyers in this city willing to pay too much for too little.

The article continues:

“It’s very disturbing,” she said. “My kids and I are going to feel so frightened and angry just to think there are dying people so close to us.”

[...]Sharon Wu, chairwoman of the UNA said 60 residents came to a UNA board meeting Tuesday.

“The UNA respects cultural beliefs,” she said. “UBC is planning to address the concerns of the residents. It’s a very emotional and sensitive issue.”

Well, the kids will feel frightened and angry only if the parents happen to pass down this preposterous superstition to the next generation. There is always the option, however, of being more mature about the fact that in a society there are the young and the old, the living and the dying. I’m sure that someone dying next door is a discomforting thought, but I’m also pretty sure it’s a worse situation for the person actually doing the dying.

A little maturity, sensitivity and understanding toward people suffering would seem to me to be the more responsible thing than worrying about the property values of the nearby residents.

[A little birdie told me this story: Blazing Cat Fur]