(Taken from the Far Eastern Economic Review, 16 Oct 97 p.38)

Oh, no. Grandma has gone back to work again. Most people are proud when their aged relatives manage to keep on truckin' long after all their peers have retired. But not one Taipei family named Li. For Li is now 79, and her family would really, REALLY like her to give up working as a prostitute.

"Our family is poor," she used to sadly explain to amazed police officers who arrested her for soliciting in the Wanhua district of the city. But lately, she has admitted that the real reason is simpler: She's lonely.

The cry "DENIANG [granny] has been busted again," went around the 16 grandchildren yet again in September, as four officers caught the old lady just after she had successfully negotiated a NT$400 (US$14) deal with a middle-aged man, I heard from Ingomar Lochschmidt.

Never mind the ethical questions about prostitution and society. This woman should be earning a fortune as a motivational speaker on sales training courses.