If you’re Chinese, living away from your elderly parents and are afraid of being caught out by China’s new “Elderly Protection Act”, then never fear: Taobao is now providing a service where you can rent people to deliver the required amount of filial piety to your parents on your behalf.
For just 100 RMB an hour, the service hires people to visit peoples’ parents for them, and is aimed at offspring who are too busy or may have a strained relationship with their parents. One Taobao shopkeeper stated, “We offer services such as chatting, celebrating birthdays, and even performances.” But just what performances might they be exactly?
Presumably not what the authorities had in mind when they passed the law on July 1, which ambiguously states that children must visit their parents or “send greetings often”, the service hasn’t proven too popular yet.
The service has also been condemned by some as appearing too shallow, and bears a frightening resemblance to the Spring Festival “Rent-a-Boyfriend” phenomenon that cropped up not long ago.
Source: Shanghai Daily
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Keywords: elderly parent visits Elderly Protection Act human rental service
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I've heard something similar, but not quite the same, in Japan. Apparently, professional 'actors' rent themselves out to pose as family members for lonely people. I'd say something condemnatory, but it's not as if Westerners don't isolate themselves and loved ones in fast-paced lifestyles, either. It's sad, no matter what culture these people are in.
Jul 09, 2013 04:23 Report Abuse
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