HAPPY COFFINS TO KICK THE BUCKET IN STYLE

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, Sept 28 (Bernama) -– Would you fancy to 'kick the bucket' in
style? Departing this transitory life for the eternal afterworld in a colourful
and arty coffin that looks like a gift box?

And challenging the taboo of death by turning the usually glum and solemn
bereavement event into a cheerful and fun departure?

This is what three female residents of St Joseph’s Home and Hospice here
wish to do, selecting designer coffin from the usually drab and depressing
casket for their final resting place, to leave the world in a jovial spirit.

Kitty Fogh, 90, who used to teach country dancing to the Johor royalty,
Magdalene Khoo, 70, and former seamstress Elsie Chua, 79, had each chosen a
creatively designed and customised coffin under the 'Happy Coffins' project of
the nursing home for their final departure.

In a press conference at the nursing home in Jurong Tuesday, the home
administrator Sister Geraldine Tan said the idea of the project to design
coffins for her residents came about after she visited an art-related event in
Australia last year.

The idea was later turned into reality through an initiative between the
nursing home and Lien Foundation, a Singapore philanthropic house, which then
engaged members of FARM, a local arts creative society, to design coffins for
the residents.

The initiative became part of the foundation’s 'Life Before Death' campaign
that seeks to get people thinking and talking about death and dying, and to
highlight the urgent need for better care for the dying.

The foundation also invited artists from the global creative community of
Eyeka, to create the best 'Happy Coffins', whether for themselves, a loved
one, or an inspiring person.

A record 733 entries were received from 37 countries for this international
coffin design competition, of which 75 per cent of the participants produced
designs for their own coffins.

The project overturns the stigma of death and transforms the coffin from a
symbol of fear, dread and grief into a positive and life-affirming expression of
art.

“The name, ‘Happy Coffins’, may be like an oxymoron. But its very antithesis
captures that we seek to do,” said Lee Poh Wah, the foundation’s chief executive
officer.

He said: “We are turning the coffin from a supreme negative symbol of death
into a creative canvas for reflection and inspiration, and the positive
celebration of life.”

Lee added that by subverting the conventional notion of death, it hoped to
liberate mindsets and spark “die-logues” or conversation about end-of-life
matters that did not need to be full of woe, but were filled with joy, laughter
and good memories.

Geraldine also said that instead of gloom and doom, the project, though
seemingly about death and dying, was really life giving.

“It has created a non-threatening platform for our residents to share their
lives and talk about their pre-departure wishes and hopes,” she said, adding her
three residents were now prepared to enter the afterworld.

Elsie, a Peranakan who had booked a white casket with designs and drawings
patterned from blue-coloured porcelain vase and embroideries, said: “I am not
afraid to talk about my eventual departure.

“It is very meaningful to be able to shape the design of my coffin and see
it before I die,” she said, adding, “I want to have a matching kebaya to go
along.”

Lee quipped: “We have designer clothes and chocolates, so why not designer
coffins that better reflect our unique lives, personalities and dreams.”

The individual life story behind each personalised coffin would be poignant
talking points at funerals, he said.

-- BERNAMA