Taiwanese singer and 1980s icon Monique Lin (林慧萍) shocked the entertainment world last week when she and her now ex-husband, Terry Pan (潘博照), announced that they had quietly signed divorce papers last month, ending a decade-long marriage.
The singer, known as a Jade Lady (玉女) for her good looks and elegant demeanor, moved to Los Angeles after she got married but recently returned to Taiwan to revive her pop career. Until this summer, Pan made a point of showing up and cheering his wife at her appearances, and in July the duo hosted a dinner party together.
Lin and Pan cited “personality differences” (個性上的差異) and took pains to state that no one else had been involved in their decision to split. This, of course, did not prevent rampant speculation in the media. The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported that friends of the couple had long been aware of Pan’s chronic womanizing, but the husband-and-wife team hid their problems to prevent Lin’s golden-girl image becoming tarnished.
Other news reports named Vivian Hsu (徐懷瑛), a former employee of Pan’s (not to be confused with the famous Taiwanese singer/actress with the same English name (徐若)), as the third wheel. The two allegedly embarked on an affair last year, though Pan, Hsu and Lin have all vigorously denied the rumors. Reports about the alleged love triangle focus on Hsu’s good looks, her lively personality, penchant for hot pants and miniskirts and the fact that, at 43, she is three years younger than Lin.
Someone who might have been following the flurry of media reports about Lin’s divorce is pop singer Chao Cheng-ping (趙正平) of JXT BOY (景行廳男孩), who had little else to do while laid up in bed after earning the dubious distinction of being the first Taiwanese entertainer to come down with swine flu.
Zhao was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with the disease last week after coming down with a fever. He was ordered to stay away from people as he recovered, including fellow bandmembers Vincent Liang
(梁赫群) and Lin Chih-hsien (林智賢). Their manager said the 41-year-old bachelor was subsisting on frozen dumplings, but fans need not fear for their idol — his record label will send him more provisions if need be and his mommy is also looking after him.
Angela Chang (張韶涵), on the other hand, won’t be counting on her mother for chicken soup and pats on the back any time soon. The Taiwanese pop singer and her estranged family have been using the media as a battlefield for a volley of angry messages. Chang’s mom told reporters that her daughter is a cold-hearted ingrate, while Chang said her parents had mismanaged her earnings.
The singer, who spent her adolescence in Canada, returned to Taiwan to launch her entertainment career after graduating from high school in 2000. Her mother was her constant companion and advisor until last year, when the two suddenly fell out. Chang reportedly kicked her mom out of their shared home, launching a feud that has dragged other family members into the mire.
Gossip rags say that even though Chang’s mother and father are divorced, the two have united against their daughter, claiming that her luxurious lifestyle is in stark contrast to their own. Chang’s father says he makes a pittance selling noodles in a night market, while her mother sells slippers and works in a store.
During a terse press conference last week, Chang expressed frustration that her family feud had become public and said she hoped to resolve it as quickly as possible. She added that after returning to Taiwan from Canada last year, she discovered her mother had made off with her earnings and was refusing to disclose where the money was.
A Linfair Records (福茂唱片) representative also defended its star, stating that “Angela has been supporting her family for years,” before adding that her newest record would drop on Sept. 25.
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
RSS