TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Fourteen individuals on Wednesday (July 27) took part in a session to clean a funeral home in Taitung prior to the arrival of the “Ghost Month” as a punishment for drunk driving.

The 15th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is known as the Ghost Festival and the seventh month is regarded as Ghost Month. It is believed the gates of the underworld open during the month, when the deceased are allowed to wander freely in the realm of the living.

The DUI offenders were asked to clean the embalming room, the body washing table, the morgue, and other facilities at the funeral home. The community service is designed to drive home the message that lives could be lost due to impaired driving, wrote CNA.

Taitung alone accounted for 1,169 DUI cases in 2021, or 15.87% of the total nationwide. Drunk driving is a serious issue in the county, which is concerning and has a high social cost, said the Taitung District Prosecutors Office.

The office is urging the public to seek treatment for excessive alcohol use at several hospitals in Taitung. Curbing DUIs has become a focus for the county’s law enforcement.

Taiwan introduced tougher penalties for DUI offenses earlier this year, including jail terms and the disclosure of repeat offenders' identities.