VIEW THIS PAGE Hong Kong singers Jill Vidal (衛詩) and Kelvin Kwan (關楚耀) were arrested in Tokyo on Feb. 24 over alleged possession of cannabis, according to a report in Sina.com earlier this week.
The arrest allegedly came after the pair was busted for shoplifting at a discount shop and getting into a verbal altercation with an employee. When the cops arrived they searched Kwan and reportedly discovered a joint.
The two celebs, both of whom have taken part in anti-drug campaigns, remain in custody as of press time and face a maximum five-year prison sentence and could be barred from Japan. But what shocks Pop Stop most is that it took so long for the paparazzi to break the story.
Celebs busted for drugs may be old hat in Taiwan, which has seen starlets such as Suzanne Hsiao (蕭淑慎) repeatedly caught using cocaine and ketamine, but the Kelvin/Jill bust got Hong Kong in a tizzy. Perhaps this will provide some relief from the ongoing Edison Chen (陳冠希) sex scandal that continues to make headlines. Don’t count on it though.
Last Friday, a Hong Kong actress caught up in the Internet sex photo scandal finally spoke with the media about the incident in a two-part interview with Hong Kong network i-Cable, the first segment of which was a tirade against the luckless lothario Chen. Cecilia Cheung (張柏芝) said during the interview that since the scandal broke, she has taken to writing a diary about her youthful transgressions, which she plans to give her son when he turns 18. Let’s hope it doesn’t serve as a guidebook for the young man.
“I’m sure he’ll be very understanding by the time he is 18 years old,” she said, implying that he is not very understanding now.
A better course for Cheung, Pop Stop suggests, would be to take a page out of Canto-pop singer and actress Niki Chow’s (周麗淇) book. Chow plans to release a work teaching people how to recycle, according to a report in the Oriental Daily. Perhaps Cheung could pen a book on protecting endangered species or, better yet, produce a guide on sexual mores for distribution by the Singaporean government.
Anyway, the second part of the Cheung interview has itself become grist for the rumor mill because Cheung insists that i-Cable not broadcast it.
Unsurprisingly, and in an ironic twist of history repeating itself, the contents of the second part were leaked on to the Internet. In a case, however, of history not repeating itself, it was mostly mundane chatter about how the case has affected Cheung’s family.
Back home, Jay Chou
(周杰倫) is packing on the pounds, according to a report in the United Daily News. The Chairman was in southern Taiwan filming a television drama when fans said they couldn’t help but notice that the crooner has beefed up. Perhaps he ate too much cake for his 30th birthday celebration, which just passed.
In a gesture of love that would make any parent proud, Chou celebrated his birthday with his mother, grandmother and 800 fans. And what did Chou want for his birthday? A limited-edition Lamborghini Reventon. Price tag: NT$44 million. VIEW THIS PAGE
In Taiwan’s politics the party chair is an extremely influential position. Typically this person is the presumed presidential candidate or serving president. In the last presidential election, two of the three candidates were also leaders of their party. Only one party chair race had been planned for this year, but with the Jan. 1 resignation by the currently indicted Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) two parties are now in play. If a challenger to acting Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) appears we will examine that race in more depth. Currently their election is set for Feb. 15. EXTREMELY
Last week saw the appearance of another odious screed full of lies from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian (肖千), in the Financial Review, a major Australian paper. Xiao’s piece was presented without challenge or caveat. His “Seven truths on why Taiwan always will be China’s” presented a “greatest hits” of the litany of PRC falsehoods. This includes: Taiwan’s indigenous peoples were descended from the people of China 30,000 years ago; a “Chinese” imperial government administrated Taiwan in the 14th century; Koxinga, also known as Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功), “recovered” Taiwan for China; the Qing owned
Jan. 20 to Jan. 26 Taipei was in a jubilant, patriotic mood on the morning of Jan. 25, 1954. Flags hung outside shops and residences, people chanted anti-communist slogans and rousing music blared from loudspeakers. The occasion was the arrival of about 14,000 Chinese prisoners from the Korean War, who had elected to head to Taiwan instead of being repatriated to China. The majority landed in Keelung over three days and were paraded through the capital to great fanfare. Air Force planes dropped colorful flyers, one of which read, “You’re back, you’re finally back. You finally overcame the evil communist bandits and
They increasingly own everything from access to space to how we get news on Earth and now outgoing President Joe Biden warns America’s new breed of Donald Trump-allied oligarchs could gobble up US democracy itself. Biden used his farewell speech to the nation to deliver a shockingly dark message: that a nation which has always revered its entrepreneurs may now be at their mercy. “An oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms,” Biden said. He named no names, but his targets were clear: men like Elon Musk
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