All over the news this week is the official breakup of One Million Star (超級星光大道) talent show producer Chan Jen-hsiung (詹仁雄) and wife of two years "sexy mom" Vicky Chen (陳孝萱). Back in December 2005, Pop Stop was all over the NT$1.2 million party that the high-profile producer threw for his wife's two-month-old baby Tie Ti (鐵弟). The couple doesn't even seem to be able to agree over the curtains these days, and now the split is official, information from inside the dysfunctional marriage has hit the press big time.
In addition to the usual allegations of flirtatious behavior on Chan's part, Next has also produced "evidence" that he swings both ways. The magazine claims Chan was caught by paparazzi taking male bonding in exciting new directions. Surely this is no more than expected behavior for a mover and shaker in the showbiz firmament.
And despite the big party back in 2005, Chan is reported to have kept his wife short of cash, even as he went about putting together a multi-million NT dollar collection of designer watches, and furnished the house with top-tier Italian furniture. Chan is all set up to be the bad guy, except for suspicions that Chen flirted with bigamy when she switched from former lover (or husband?) Howie Huang (黃文豪) to current ex. All this provides plenty of fodder for the innuendo peddlers and ensures the couple plenty of column inches in days to come.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
While some people can't wait to get out of their matrimonial situation, Big S (大S) just can't wait to jump in. Such is the pressure she is putting on current beau, Vic Chou (周渝民), that he is losing weight and has given the starlet a diamond ring. Now there's a tip from a true master for all the gold-diggers out there.
Speaking of getting rich, Jay Chou (周杰倫) continues, in the most recent Next report, to fend off the competition as the most financially successful artist in Taiwan. He is probably spurred on by the fact that his closest rival, Jolin Tsai (蔡依林), is, reportedly, a former lover, so instead of sharing a home, they simply see who can buy the biggest and most expensive one. Chou has ensured his lead recently after dropping NT$315 million on a new pad.
Keeping up interest in the mammary development of the nation's stars, Tang Wei (湯唯) has, for the moment at least, reversed the bigger is better trend in cup size. After her turn in Ang Lee's Lust, Caution (色戒) and her elevation to superstar sex kitten, she has shown that repressed desire can hit the mark just as surely as simply being big and bouncy. In her most recent venture "The Red Lips File" (紅唇檔案), Ada Pan (潘慧如) has reined in her "exploding tits" (爆奶) in an attempt to see if this will be a substitute for being able to act.
And finally, TV host Tuo Tsung-kang (庹宗康), having only recently recovered from the bad vibe relating to being collared for marijuana use, is now back in the press due to a new romantic attachment with a 23-year-old Chinese-American Kiki that he inadvertently leaked through his MSN. The total inconsequentialness of this news has Pop Stop reeling, but it is good to see that Tuo, on the verge of 40, still appeals to the very young.
July 1 to July 7 Huang Ching-an (黃慶安) couldn’t help but notice Imelita Masongsong during a company party in the Philippines. With paler skin and more East Asian features, she did not look like the other locals. On top of his job duties, Huang had another mission in the country, given by his mother: to track down his cousin, who was deployed to the Philippines by the Japanese during World War II and never returned. Although it had been more than three decades, the family was still hoping to find him. Perhaps Imelita could provide some clues. Huang never found the cousin;
Once again, we are listening to the government talk about bringing in foreign workers to help local manufacturing. Speaking at an investment summit in Washington DC, the Minister of Economic Affairs, J.W. Kuo (郭智輝), said that the nation must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers for high end manufacturing by 2040 to offset the falling population. That’s roughly 15 years from now. Using the lower number, Taiwan would have to import over 25,000 foreigners a year for these positions to reach that goal. The government has no idea what this sounds like to outsiders and to foreigners already living here.
Over the past year, a peculiar phrase has begun to litter Asian women’s social media accounts: “Oxford study.” An Asian woman vlogging about her dating life — and particularly about dating white men — gets commenters reacting to her updates with the words “Oxford study.” A young Asian student showing off her prom dress with her white boyfriend sees “obligatory Oxford study comment” on her TikTok. “I can already hear the oxford study comments coming,” one Asian woman captions a video of her dancing with her white partner. The phrase “Oxford study” refers to just that: an academic study out of Oxford
In spite of the next local elections being over two years away, there is already considerable intrigue and jockeying for position by politicians and their supporters. The local press runs quite a bit of content, mostly speculative, on who will run in what races and what the outcomes might be. This is an overview for English language readers to get a taste of the state of play. Four races in particular are drawing a lot of heat, those of mayors of New Taipei City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung because in all four the incumbent mayors will be term-limited out. In