Although the birth of Angelina Jolie's and Brad Pitt's new baby girl may be regarded as one of the biggest celebrity news items of the century by Western media,Chinese diva Faye Wang (王菲) took some of the limelight last week, giving birth to her second daughter on the same day. Wang's husband Li Ya-peng (李亞鵬) shed tears of delight at the sight of child, who weighed 4kg, a big child by Asian standards.
You would have thought that this would bring an end to the two-week stake out by Chinese-language media, who wouldn't let Wang out of their sight in the lead up to the birth. Hong Kong media estimated that the total cost of following the star day and night was around NT$4 million. But there is no rest for the paparazzi, who are in an all out race to take the first photo of the baby, a money shot worth NT$2 million. This is small potatoes compared to the NT$160 million which the photo of Jolie's baby fetched.
As for the future Wang's plans: to become the contracted star at Li's agency firm and work at giving him a son.
On the international scene, Taiwan's biggest-budget horror flick, Silk (
Love seemed to have been in the air at Cannes. Thailand-born, Hong Kong-based director Oxide Pang (彭順) was in high-spirits at the showing of his new horror flick, Re-cycle (鬼域), and opened his heart to the press about his romance with the film's leading actress, Angelica Lee (李心潔). "When I saw her for the first time, I knew she was mine," Pang said. Through reporters, he even proposed marriage, but Lee played cute saying "I'm not hearing you."
Local celebrities are now gearing up for the 17th Golden Melody Awards (金曲獎), Taiwan's equivalent of the US Grammies, which is ready to roll on June 10 at the Taipei Arena (台北巨蛋). The Internet is already buzzing with predictions as who will take away the big prizes at Taiwan's most important musical event, which will be attended by some of Asia's hottest musicians. Yet one can easily detect some friction in the heated discussion over this year's less than star-studded nomination list. The Double J pair of Jay Chou (周杰倫) and Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) are notably absent.
With significantly fewer consistent hit-song singers among the nominations, some people have questioned the jury members' expertise, suggesting that if the top-ten teen crowd is not catered to, nobody will pay much attention to the Golden Melody event. Others have praised the judges for sticking to principles and not bowing to popular taste.
Whatever the reasons, the pop idols have been squeezed out by the alternative crowd.
The biggest surprise is Best Male Singer nominee Puyuma folk singer Kimbo, also known as Hu De-fu (
Previously ignored by the Golden Melody, ABT R&B musician David Tao (陶吉吉) finds justice with the album The Great Leap Forward 2005 (太平盛世), which earned him six nominations in the Best Male Singer, Best Album and Best Song categories. To the dismay of many, Wang Lee-hom's (王力宏) Heroes of Earth, one of last year's best selling record, only earned him a single nomination for Best Male Singer, and with critics saying that his new album offers little that is different from his previous work, he is not favored for the prize.
According to an ongoing online poll at the official Golden Melody Awards Web site, it is the lesser known musician Ken Wu (
As for the female leads, Malaysia-born folk rock singer Penny Tai (
Taiwan alt-rock godfather Wu Bai (
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at
Last week the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that the budget cuts voted for by the China-aligned parties in the legislature, are intended to force the DPP to hike electricity rates. The public would then blame it for the rate hike. It’s fairly clear that the first part of that is correct. Slashing the budget of state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) is a move intended to cause discontent with the DPP when electricity rates go up. Taipower’s debt, NT$422.9 billion (US$12.78 billion), is one of the numerous permanent crises created by the nation’s construction-industrial state and the developmentalist mentality it
Experts say that the devastating earthquake in Myanmar on Friday was likely the strongest to hit the country in decades, with disaster modeling suggesting thousands could be dead. Automatic assessments from the US Geological Survey (USGS) said the shallow 7.7-magnitude quake northwest of the central Myanmar city of Sagaing triggered a red alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. “High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” it said, locating the epicentre near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, home to more than a million people. Myanmar’s ruling junta said on Saturday morning that the number killed had
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