Sparks continue to fly over a rumored romance between singer Jay Chou (周杰倫) and model Lin Chi-ling (林志玲), co-stars of the recently released film The Treasure Hunter (刺陵). The two were spotted together by Next Magazine several weeks ago on a late night outing at a hot pot restaurant on Civil Boulevard (市民大道). Reports have also circulated on the Internet of a Chou-Lin sighting at Shilin night market (士林夜市).
Fueling speculation even further was a birthday ode to Chou (who just turned 31) written by his close friend and fellow pop singer Devon Song (彈頭). On his blog, Song posted an eight-line poem in Mandarin which sneaks in a vague reference to Lin: The poem was written to be read from left to right, but the first character of each line also forms a sentence, which reads, “Director Chou is fucking cool, Chi-ling knows it.” (周導好屌，志玲知道.)
But it seems Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) can’t be left out of the picture when it comes to “The Chairman,” at least on the gossip pages. Just last weekend, Chou and his former sweetheart reportedly went on a bowling date — a development that has left observers “in the dark,” as our sister paper, The Liberty Times, put it.
As for one of Lin’s past flames, pop heartthrob Jerry Yan (言承旭) has been dodging questions as usual regarding romance. Yan, who was last rumored to be dating actress Terri Kwan (關穎) but supposedly still holds a candle for Lin, recently made an appearance on Variety Big Brother (綜藝大哥大) — but not without a fuss.
According to the Liberty Times, the taping of the show was delayed by Yan’s management, which insisted that host Chang Fei (張菲) refrain from asking questions about his love life. Chang relented, but lightly prodded Yan on the show: “[Jerry], this is the first time that as a host, I’ve been restricted from asking certain questions.”
The reporters on the set, on the other hand, didn’t let Yan off the hook. They grilled him on the Chou-Lin rumors. “I’ve heard about it,” he replied with a “rigid” smile. Had he seen the The Treasure Hunter? “It’s actually a good movie.”
A movie that’s actually good, James Cameron’s hit Avatar, is getting trumped in China by Confucius (孔子). Chinese authorities have told theaters across the country to pull the sci-fi epic to make way for a biopic on the venerated philosopher starring Chow Yun-fat (周潤發). The Apple Daily reports that high-level Chinese officials have been concerned that local films would lose market share to Avatar, which opened at the beginning of the month and is already the highest-grossing movie in Chinese film history, having earned US$76 million thus far. But all is not lost for our friends across the strait, who can still see the 3D IMAX version, which has yet to be pulled from theaters.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese Internet users have been feeding their craze for Avatar by drawing comparisons between Neytiri, the film’s lead female character, with several pop singers, according to another Apple Daily report. Elva Hsiao (蕭亞軒) was in the running for the best look-a-like, but Angela Chang (張韶涵) took the prize with her “eye-to-nose ratio.”
Ouyang Fei-fei (歐陽菲菲), the Taiwan-born singer who found stardom in Japan as a disco diva, will be appearing at Taipei Arena (台北小巨蛋) tomorrow night. The 55-year-old, who sports a Tina Turner-esque hairdo and is sometimes called the Taiwanese Cher, shared with the Liberty Times the secret to maintaining her svelte figure: everyday she does 30 minutes of “exercise in bed” (床上運動) — that is, leg lifts and waist twists.
And perhaps to prove that she also remains young at heart, Ouyang has been rehearsing Madonna’s Like a Virgin as part of the Western pop segment of her show. But the song is not really her, she says. “I can’t sing something so restrained, I’m too wild.”
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
President William Lai’s (賴清德) March 13 national security speech marked a turning point. He signaled that the government was finally getting serious about a whole-of-society approach to defending the nation. The presidential office summarized his speech succinctly: “President Lai introduced 17 major strategies to respond to five major national security and united front threats Taiwan now faces: China’s threat to national sovereignty, its threats from infiltration and espionage activities targeting Taiwan’s military, its threats aimed at obscuring the national identity of the people of Taiwan, its threats from united front infiltration into Taiwanese society through cross-strait exchanges, and its threats from
Despite the intense sunshine, we were hardly breaking a sweat as we cruised along the flat, dedicated bike lane, well protected from the heat by a canopy of trees. The electric assist on the bikes likely made a difference, too. Far removed from the bustle and noise of the Taichung traffic, we admired the serene rural scenery, making our way over rivers, alongside rice paddies and through pear orchards. Our route for the day covered two bike paths that connect in Fengyuan District (豐原) and are best done together. The Hou-Feng Bike Path (后豐鐵馬道) runs southward from Houli District (后里) while the
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
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