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Really??!!
Were you there for it???
(I can type. Really, I can.)
Nor my father's either.
Hellz yeah! I love my Taiwanese peeps!
I leave you with an oldie but goodie. Taiwanese man jumps into lion's den to convert them to Christianity.
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World - Asia/Pacific
Flinging piglets at politician prompts outrage in Taiwan
November 4, 1998
Web posted at: 9:09 p.m. EST (0209 GMT)
TAICHUNG, Taiwan (CNN) -- Animal rights activists in Taiwan are furious over a protest in which an opposition candidate threw live piglets at police during a demonstration.
The scandal was touched off last week during a protest against Taiwan's governor James Soong, led by Hsu Yi-Shang, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party's candidate in next month's legislative elections.
Hsu brought six live piglets to a venue where Soong was to appear, planning to disrupt the event. When the governor tried to make his way through the crowd, Hsu and his supporters were blocked by the police.
They then ran toward the piglets and flung the screaming animals at the governor. Others threw piglets at the governor's aides and police.
Animal rights activists denounced Hsu, calling the action "torture." But Hsu said they were over- reacting, because the pigs were going to be eaten anyway.
The fate of the piglets is unknown.
Accompanying video here.
1) While cruising through a safari in South Africa, my friend said the tourguide warned him against getting out of the jeep. The friend looked at the tourguide like, "No, duh?" Tourguide then says well, we had a bunch of Taiwanese girls here earlier and they got out of their car to play with some of the lions and subsequently got eaten alive.
2) Freshman year of college while volunteering at a zoo, I saw a polar bear and the polar bear looked very sad. I decided to give the polar bear a hug. I climbed over the fence into the den and started walking toward the polar bear. I was about 5 feet away from a giant polar bear before zoo personnel saw me and fished me out of that situation. And. I'm Taiwanese.
You did NOT jump into a pen to hug a polar bear!
Glad you did not end up as a headline on "News of the Weird!"
You don't need no stinkin' tumbleweed to make "News of the Weird!"
Taiwan Funeral Strippers
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55/054.html - which is an academic discussion.
The Taiwan Chronicles: What to wear to a Taiwanese funeral - 3rd Google result, which has a link to this Time Magazine article:
Grave Stakes
Monday, Jun. 11, 2001
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1...
"Suspicions that some of Taiwan's undertakers are not just second-rate gangsters, but members of the island's biggest and most notorious triad gangs, surfaced around 15 years ago when funeral companies began selling at wholesale prices the services of exotic dancers from clubs thought to be owned by the mafia. Did grandpa like the nightlife? Then why not hire a truckload of strippers to perform at his funeral? The business got so big that, by some estimates, guests at nearly one-third of funerals were being entertained by naked women. A number of municipalities have since cracked down on the practice, but it remains common in rural areas to see funeral carts hauling flocks of scantily dressed girls from local nightclubs or brothels. Taiwan's funeral strippers get rave reviews. But Taiwanese complain that most of the services offered by the island's morticians are downright shoddy. The average price for a memorial service is $12,000, compared with $5,000 in the U.S. "
I imagine this is another excuse for Taiwanese to spend money to show how well off they are to others while morning the deceased.
John
I'll tell you what's even more insane: China wanting us.
If I were China, I'd be like whoa there psychos you guys are on your OWN.
Those threads are really interesting, although they seem a little old. It sounds like the "stripper at the funeral" thing was much more common in the 80s and then has been less common; except in more rural places.
I still can't get over it... there were really strippers at your grandfather's funeral?!?!?!?!
At least the stripper at the funeral, fights in parliament, throwing livestock at the police, while bizarre, still seem to have some sort of purpose. Frolicking with wildlife does not.
Like I said, I didn't go to my grandfather's funeral in Taiwan, but I did hear there were strippers or exotic dancers there. I can't see my grandmother or uncle hiring them. Maybe some of the town people. My grandfather was fairly well known in his town since he was the head of the farmer's union or something like that.
You MUST be Tagalog. We Ilokanos are our own crying ladies, we videotape it, and then we laugh about it! (well, at least my family)...
I don't think I'd want to see a stripper at a funeral, but that's just me...
Do you applaud politely at the end?
Do you bring singles to tip?
I'm so baffled...
Other "logical" questions that come to mind:
- Is the stripper wearing only black (ie. panties, boots, etc)?
- Is there music in the background?
- Is there a makeshift stripper pole involved?
Anyway, it was kind of long, so here's the gist of it: I went to my grandfather's funeral in Taiwan when I was 4. I was in an earthquake while at a restaurant. My mom said I ignored the earthquake, picked the bowl up, and kept eating my rice porridge while the tables were rattling and people were heading for cover. Ergo, I am insane.
As for proper etiquette: I think she (or he) would have to be tastefully dressed in black, down to the black thong (or top for the woman) and I think that at least all the immediate family should have singles. The stripper should probably do interpretive dance to the canned music piping through the speakers, unless of course, the stripper has his (or her) own music specifically for funerals. Somehow "Shook Me All Night Long" just sounds SO appropriate...;)
Are there any funeral stripper videos on YouTube?
Believe it or not, I don't care about the stripper performances. I'm really terribly curious about people's reactions to these things...
Moon Festival Stripper!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns854YVdDVI
The woman doesn't strip though - she dances, in front of kids... and near a store.
I can't believe you found that video!
WTF!?
I loved how all the kids are sitting there and watching it.
To be fair, she wasn't totally naked, but it was just weird. Everyone was just watching those girls wriggle around wearing next to nothing.
Bizarre.
I really hope she made a lot of money doing that...
An integral part of Taiwanese culture is scantily clad women.
Case in point: bing lang xi shi
("bing lang" = bitternut, an addictive drug/fruit-thing like chewing tobacco that many Taiwanese men are into; "xi shi" = one of the classic four beauties of Chinese Literature, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Shi)
In Taiwan, you have these stands along the side of the roads with green neon lights - the indication that bing lang is sold there, and you'll see a glass box where a chic dressed like a prostitute is sitting. she's the bing lang vendor that we refer to as bing lang xi shi. She sells bing lang and sometimes other...services are included.
Often they're wearing little more than lacy underwear and stiletto boots. And kids walk and run by all the time. Parents don't bat an eye when they drive by and their kids in the backseat look out the window and see a row of hot chics showing cleavage and half their butt cheeks.