Care home in Taiwan says `sorry' after lap dance

A Taiwanese nursing home has apologized after video footage emerged of senior citizens being entertained by an erotic dancer as they celebrated a national holiday.

The Taoyuan Veterans Home, a state-run facility for retired army personnel, admitted the scantilyclad entertainer's actions were “too enthusiastic and fiery” after she was filmed in lacy red and black lingerie giving a lap dance to an elderly resident last week.

Senior citizens in a semicircle of wheelchairs and staff are seen clapping as the dancer, wearing high heels and a medical face mask, performs a raunchy dance and rubs her chest against one man's face.

While some of the care home residents appeared to be enjoying the entertainment, the facility later apologized after a video of the performance on social media prompted criticism.

“The intention of the event was to entertain residents and make them happy. We are very sorry for the offence that was caused,” it said in a statement.

A spokesperson said the intention had been to raise spirits during the Mid-Autumn Festival period as previous events had been cancelled because of the pandemic.

The elderly men also enjoyed a more sedate game of bingo.

Dancers and even strippers have also been known to perform at Taiwanese funerals, as some parts of the East Asian society practice a folk religion that believes in entertaining spirits.

In 2017, a funeral for a Taiwanese politician Tung Hsiang in the southern city of Chiayi featured 50 pole dancers gyrating on top of colourful jeeps blasting loud music.

According to the BBC at the time, his family said they wanted to honour Tung who loved “having a lively fun time.”

The procession also had a drumming troupe, a marching band, performers dressed as deities and giant puppets.

The event set social media light. “Now this is what I call a funeral!” said one user of Chinese platform Weibo.