In Muar, Malaysia, 69-year-old Goh Khuay Par still shapes traditional Chinese Mei Hua coffins by hand, preserving a family craft that connects woodworking, funeral ritual and beliefs about what the living owe the dead.
Goh began learning more than five decades ago and now works with his brother. They use durable keledang wood, carving the heavy rounded forms associated with a tradition passed through three generations of their family.
The coffin carries more than a body
Traditional Chinese funeral customs treat the coffin as an expression of respect, continuity and hopes for the deceased beyond this life. The rituals surrounding burial and ancestral remembrance help families maintain a relationship between generations rather than treating death as an administrative ending.
Demand is fading as cremation becomes more common and younger workers choose other careers. The labor is physically demanding, the apprenticeship is long and there is no obvious successor waiting to take over the shop.
Heritage can vanish one retirement at a time
Associated Press documented Goh’s work on September 18, 2026.
Not every sacred tradition survives by entering a museum. Some survive because one person keeps measuring, carving and teaching while the market moves elsewhere. Goh’s coffins are made for endings, but the deeper question is whether his craft will receive one too.
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