Strip-tease show to amuse a departed soul

That’s exactly what a Changhua resident did Sunday for his good friend who had died a day before.

Lai Yung-hsi, 45, hired a strip-tease dancer to amuse the pal, who had demanded nonchalantly on last Wednesday that he be given the chance to enjoy watching a titillating show all alone if he ever died.

Lee Jui-feng was a very good frind of Lai’s. “He never married,” said Lai of the man, who died of acute hepatitis at the age of 48. Lee was an alcoholic.

“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’s 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.

Police came to know about the “indecent” show much later, but could do nothing against Lai and company for lack of evidence.

A dancer, identified only as Little Xu, was hired for NT$6,000, double the price for a living audience. “Why not?” she said. “It’s money.”

As a matter of fact, Little Xu went on, a couple of dancers in Changhua would do such a show. “People like it,” she said, “so we did it for a price.”

“Bonuses are given for doing some extra stints, like hugging a tomb stone or a little cenotaph or doing a hip grinding with your private parts touching it,” Little Xu added. She did a five-minute show without any extra.

“You know,” the dancer said, “the guy who hired me first asked the departed if he could forget about the promise.”

A pair of kidney-shaped bamboo pieces, known as “jiao,” or “bao-bui” in Taiwanese, is used in divination in Taiwan. After asking the dead a question, the supplicant should throw the pair on to the ground. If one is on its flat side aground and the other isn’t, the answer is “yes.” Any way otherwise means “no.”

“The answer was ‘no’ to Lai,” said Little Xu. So the show was on.

Five minutes later, Lai resorted to divination again.

“Have you seen it?” Lai asked. The jiao was tossed, and the answer was “yes.” Then, Lai asked for the last time. “Is it okay now?” “Yes” again was the answer. The whole episode was over in ten minutes. “And Lai told me he believes his departed friend was really very much pleased,” the stripper said.

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