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Celebrating life in obituaries

SINGAPORE — Often presented as sombre notices announcing a person’s death and a family’s loss, students from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) have come up with different ways of presenting an obituary — from getting the soon-to-be-deceased to write his own obit before dying, to re-designing it to look like a birth certificate, signifying rebirth.

SINGAPORE — Often presented as sombre notices announcing a person’s death and a family’s loss, students from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) have come up with different ways of presenting an obituary — from getting the soon-to-be-deceased to write his own obit before dying, to re-designing it to look like a birth certificate, signifying rebirth.

As part of their course in school, the students in April took part in Obitcheery, a design competition aimed at de-stigmatising death and encouraging people to celebrate life rather than mourn the loss of it.

They were tasked to come up with creative obituaries that serve to “revamp the traditionally depressing, one-size-fits-all obituary ad we are so used to seeing”, said NAFA’s Deputy Head of Design and Media Tan Yee Noh. In all, there were 135 entries.

The competition was organised by the Lien Foundation and Mandate Advertising International, and the winners were announced last month.

Mr Mohammad Haeqal Bin Sulaiman, 21, was the overall winner, with a humorous obituary of a fictional Ronald Chua. Focusing on Ronald’s idiosyncrasies, the obituary was “in loving memory” of his laughter and jokes. “These are just some of the simpler things about someone you don’t realise how much you miss until that person is gone ... and this is a way we can remember our loved ones positively,” he said.

The students were initially apprehensive about the project. First runner-up Ong Hui Yu, 23, said: “We were confused because, for most people, death is just not a good thing to start with.” Her obituary was designed as a birth certificate, portraying death as a “rebirth into heaven”. It captured a loving memory of Ms Ong’s grandmother and conveyed a message of comfort for those who miss her.

Third-placed Cheryl Chu’s entry was an obituary written by a fictional man before he died. “It’s meant to give people a window to ponder about life and death, and decide the way in which they want to be remembered,” the 23-year-old said. The obituary can be folded into the shape of a crane to symbolise the legacy he has left behind.

Death does not have to be taboo and obituaries do not always mark the end of a life, as “some people choose to cherish the significant moments with their loved ones when they were alive ... and even the memories they leave behind”, said Mandate Advertising’s Managing Director Chew Lee Ching. KATHY CHENG

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