Goodness knows I rag on Taiwan's China Post a lot, but there ARE things I like about the paper. They've got a good Taiwan travel page, for one. Come tax time, the China Post prints advice for foreigners - advice that was certainly helpful to me the first few years I was here. And those Hubble photos of nebulae, etc. - man, now those are just GREAT.
A few months ago though, fellow blogger Michael Turton mentioned something I'd never considered before. Namely, that the China Post features very nice slice-of-life in Taiwan stories. Case in point: the story of the dead man whose buddies treated him to one final lap dance.
"We had our tea party for six at his home," Lai said. "I asked him to quit drinking, but he didn't listen."
He said Lee didn't want to give up drinking and blurted out, "Hey, if I die, would you let me enjoy a strip-tease dance by myself?"
"Of course we will," Lai promised Lee on behalf of all five friends at the party. Three days after the party, Lee passed the way of all flesh, and now it was up to the friends to keep that promise. The remains of the departed soul were transferred to a public funeral parlor at the seat of the southern Taiwan county as soon as he had expired. The funeral service was scheduled for Sunday morning. That gave Lai some trouble. It's against the law to perform a strip-tease show in a public place.
"There's an obscenity law that makes such a show punishable by a NT$3,000 fine," said Captain Chen Chao-chin, head of the police precinct that has jurisdiction over the district where the municipal funeral parlor is located.
So Lai made an end-run. The show took place on late Saturday night, in front of the coffin where Lee was laid. And his four friends stood watch for a possible police raid. [emphasis added]
As the grandfather of rock 'n' roll once sang:
So when they plant my body 'neath the sod
Please don't take it so hard
'Cause when I'm coppin'
That eternal nod
I'll be the happiest cat in the graveyard.
- Louis Jordan, I'll Die Happy
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UPDATE (Mar 7/08): A couple days ago, the Taipei Times printed a photo of a similar celebration.
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