Maker of traditional Chinese coffins ponders future

MUAR, Malaysia — It’s been 52 years since Goh Khuay Par carved his first Mei Hua coffin. The traditional Chinese design takes its name from the plum blossom, or “mei hua” in Mandarin, and has been part of his family’s trade in Malaysia for three generations. “My father was my master,” said Goh, now 69, at the modest workshop he runs with his brother in the town of Muar, about 110 miles southeast of Kuala Lumpur. “He taught me for two and a half years.” Goh no longer recalls details of his first coffin. It was most likely a small,…