3000 YEAR OLD COFFIN ON DISPLAY

A 3,000-year-old coffin and another worth about half-a-million ringgit will be on display at the National Museum of Malaysia. They are among the 30-odd coffins that are part of an exhibition. “The practice and tradition of using coffins for funerals has been there for centuries,” said Department of Museums Malaysia director-general Datuk Ibrahim Ismail at a press conference.  “The exhibition shows the universal and special features of coffins which are not widely known,” he said. The museum has brought together coffins from Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, along with its own collection, for the exhibition that will be on until June 20. The attractions include a “Niah boat” coffin that dates back to Neolithic times, a gold-plated modern Chinese coffin, a buffalo-shaped coffin from Indonesia and a 100-year-old kerusi mayat (coffin chair) from the Philipines that was used to dry the bodies of respected noblemen until only the bones remained.