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Gangster's funeral causes traffic foul-up

"Isn't Hsu a bad guy?"

Pasuya Yao, GIO minister

Even as funeral services for the veteran gangster Hsu Hai-ching (許海清) caused a stir yesterday, Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Pasuya Yao (姚文智) urged the media not to turn Hsu into a hero when reporting the story.

"I sincerely hope that reporters will not exaggerate and praise Hsu like a hero when they cover his funeral services. What is more important is to tell the public how much his funeral services will impact local traffic or so," Yao said.

Hsu's funeral services were held at Taipei First Municipal Mortuary at noon yesterday, as more than 5,000 family members and friends -- mostly local gang members -- began to form a line outside the mortuary at 9am. Local police assigned officers to set up road blocks on the roads that surround the mortuary, which caused problems for the nearly 50,000 junior high school graduates in the city who were trying to take their high school entrance exams.

Hsu's funeral services were a veritable family reunion of Taiwan's underworld. Members of gangs such as the Bamboo Union (竹聯幫), the Four Seas (四海幫), the Heavenly Way Gang (天道盟) and the Pine Union (松聯幫) all showed up in black shirts. Members of the Japanese crime syndicates Yamaguchi-gumi and Asyura were also seen at the services.

Police assigned officers to videotape the entire service for further investigation and to use in the compilation of files on gang members.

According to the schedule, Hsu's ashes were brought to Taipei County's Chinpaosan cemetery at 2:30pm. At the cemetery, another 300 family members and gang members awaited Hsu's ashes to wrap up the funeral services.

Yao said that Hsu is just a gangster, but ever since he passed away in April, some newspapers and TV stations had cast him as a hero by detailing his "career" and his relationship with Japanese crime groups. In addition, extensive coverage was given to the service that Hsu's family members and gangs had been preparing for him.

"This will be a bad example for our younger generation, because they will be confused. Isn't Hsu a bad guy? So why do so many people pay their respects at his funeral?" Yao said.

"The GIO has constantly been receiving complaints regarding the news coverage of Hsu's funeral. I hope my fellow reporters can re-angle a bit when they are reporting," the minister added.

Hsu, born in 1913, was best known by the monikers "Mosquito Brother" and "The Last Arbitrator."

He died on April 6.
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