'Happy Coffins' Make Funerals Less Grim

(Oct. 7) -- Come on, baby, don't fear the reaper.

That's the message, not from Blue Oyster Cult, but from a Singapore nonprofit that recently revealed a series of coffins featuring fanciful designs and festooned with cheery slogans, such as "Say hello to my wonderland" and "Hello, coffin. You seem to be nice."

The 12 caskets, or "Happy Coffins," represent the winning designs from an international competition held by the Lien Foundation to create caskets that take the stigma and fear out of death.

"The traditional negative associations surrounding the coffin were transformed to a celebratory symbol of courage, life and beauty," foundation CEO Lee Poh Wah said in an e-mail to AOL News.

Many of the 733 entries from 33 countries, however, appear not only to destigmatize the Grim Reaper but kick him in the 'nads while jabbing him in the eyes.

Take, for example, the design by a 30-year-old Martin Matera of the Czech Republic. His coffin resembles a pair of worn jeans, complete with button collection and beer bottle jutting from the rear pocket. A slogan on the lid exhorts mourners, "Don't cry. I had a good life."

Then there's the design by 23-year-old Aurel Cablan of France. Imitating a wine crate, her coffin appears to hold a bottle of wine resting amid straw packing material. A tag dangling from the stem of the bottle says "Special Vintage."

The impudence!

But for all the irreverence toward death, Happy Coffins may have the Lord on its side. The project was born from a conversation between Lee and Sister Geraldine Tan, administrator of St. Joseph's Home and Hospice in Singapore. Tan had seen decorated coffins during a trip to Australia and wanted to make them available to residents of her facility, but she didn't know how.

Enter the Lien Foundation, which advocates improved palliative care and practices what it calls "radical philanthropy." Once the idea had been jointly developed, Tan approached 10 residents of the home and asked how they would feel about being buried in customized coffins.

Not everyone was comfortable with the idea. Only five residents expressed interest. Of the five, Tan chose three women -- 76-year-old Elsie Chua, 90-year-old Kitty Fogh and Magdalene Khoo, 70 -- to team with graphic designers and have coffins made.

In its announcement, the foundation released photos of the three women posing with their dream coffins. Chua's casket bears a likeness to a wreathed porcelain vase, while Fogh's features whimsical floating angels. Khoo's presents an embroidery motif with the word "thankful" cross-stitched into the side.

While the Lien Foundation hopes to find global acceptance for Happy Coffins, it remains to be seen whether the concept will appeal to a larger demographic. Taboos can be tough to bust, and when they involve something as absolute as death they can be positively intractable.

So far, the Lien Foundation hasn't taken any flak from across the spiritual spectrum, though Lee admitted, "I'm sure people have differing views about the desirability of Happy Coffins."

"Death is a radioactive topic which most people avoid like a plague," he said. "As such, we want to lighten the atmosphere, disarm and motivate people to think about their life before death differently."

To lighten things up, the foundation has set up a companion website, Life Before Death. It offers a menu of playful activities, such as "Last Playlist," which encourages visitors to make a soundtrack for their own funeral. The intro page displays a sickle doubling as a record needle and asks, "When you're stiff as a board, does the music have to be too?"

The foundation has also personified death on Facebook, where fans can "befriend" Death and engage in what Lee calls "die-logues." And why not -- seasons don't fear the reaper, so why should you?