Funeral Of Mafia Boss, Taipei, Taiwan

The family of a late Taiwanese mafia boss has donated 60 million Taiwan dollars (1.9 million US) to charities to fulfill the gang leader's dying wish. Lee Chao-hsiung, an influential triad leader in central Taiwan, died of liver cancer on March 11 aged 73. His son donated the money in his name to disabled people and low-income families as well as four major religious organisations. About 1,000 people, including several gang bosses, attended a ceremony to set up a make-shift shrine for Lee, known as the "mafia arbitrator". Lee was best known for helping to negotiate the release of a number of kidnapped politicians and businessmen, including Taichung city council speaker Chang Hung-nien. The paper did not specify what types of crime Lee was involved in as an underground gang leader. His funeral, is expected to draw more than 20,000 people in one of the island's largest gang funerals. In Taiwan, funerals of the rich and powerful often take place weeks or even months after they have died to allow members of the public to pay their respects at a shrine to the deceased before the final ceremony.