Lasers, Music Bring Life to Malaysia Cemetery

K A J A N G, Malaysia, July 18 -- Imagine a funeral bathed in laser beams inside a 1,000-foot dragon structure painted the colors of the rainbow.

Inside the narrow interior, mourners and visitors can watch a statue of a Buddhist deity slowly emerging from smoke and flashing laser beams surrounded by soft music before the ashes of the cremated dead in urns are laid to rest.

The dying business (or the deathcare industry as it prefers to be known) has become alive and big in Malaysia.

And now one company is hoping to turn its vast, modern cemetery into a tourist playground as well.

“I thought we should have something like a garden so people could spend more time in the cemetery and then leave with some nice memories,” says operator David Kong Hon Kong.

Kong, 46, is the chief executive officer of NV Multi Corp, which runs a cemetery called Nirvana Memorial Park in Kajang, an hour’s drive from Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur.

Sprawling over 206 hectares staked in by flourescent-colored flags, the leafy cemetery aspires to shed dreary images of death.

Speaking at a recent media tour of the 40-million-ringgit ($10.5 million) cemetery meant for Christians, Taoists and Buddhists, Kong said he hopes his creation will turn into one of Malaysia’s top tourist spots.

“Busloads of local and foreign tourists come every week,” he said.

Dragon Houses Urns

Top attractions of the cemetery include the massive dragon structure which is as tall as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and home to over 6,700 urns for cremated ashes.

The air-conditioned dragon stores gilded urn compartments priced at 6,000–30,000 ringgit ($1,500-$8,000) each in addition to playing host to laser show-style burial services.

Soothing Chinese synthesizer music fills the narrow interior as a statue of a Buddhist deity slowly emerges from smoke and flashing laser beams.

Outside, the Feng Shui-approved cemetery is dotted with symbols of good luck — statues of Chinese mythological characters, Buddhist arches and fountains.