We all know that Jay Chou (周杰倫) fancies himself something chronic, but his most recent automotive acquisition really takes the cake. Not content with his already considerable collection of luxury sports cars, the Chairman (周董) has recently taken delivery of his very own Batmobile.
According to a report in the United Daily News, the custom-made auto is based on the one used in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman. The car, which takes up to three parking spaces and cost NT$5 million, is not just a collector’s item. Chou said he might have the chance to take it on the road one day. “We’ll see if the paparazzi will be able to keep up with me then,” he said.
Chou’s new toy is an innocent diversion compared to what other celebs have been getting up to, most notably Ethan Ruan (阮經天), who has been caught, once again, with his pants down.
Pop Stop reported last week that Ruan’s girlfriend Tiffany Hsu (許瑋甯) had changed her Facebook status from “In a relationship” to “It’s complicated” after the star was spotted at a hotel in Taichung with an unidentified woman.
Since then, additional details have been pouring in of his louche behavior.
At the time of the alleged indiscretion, Ruan was supposed to be on leave from the publicity tour for hit film Monga (艋舺), in which he starred, to attend his grandfather’s funeral.
Photos submitted by a member of the public to Next Magazine suggest that he might have had a date with a “long-haired hottie” (長髮辣妹) whose going price, according to the rag, is NT$30,000. There is still plenty of controversy as to exactly what might, or might not, have happened, as the dates and locations of the photos are disputed.
Rather less controversial, though equally eye-catching, is Stanley Huang’s (黃立行) most recent romantic involvement. Huang, who is no stranger to speculative gossip, has generally managed to keep a fairly tight lid on the details of his private life.
There has, nevertheless, been intense speculation about a possible new courtship following the breakup of his three-year involvement with singer Dominique Tsai (蔡詩蕓). According to Next Magazine, his new inamorata is model Hu Jia-ai (胡嘉愛). Up to now, Hu has been very much in the minor league, but perhaps now she’ll have a chance to move up from the D list.
Someone else who’s going places is Wang Ying (王瀅), niece of singer Harlem Yu (庾澄慶).
Wang is getting hitched to Jimmy Yang (楊立傑), scion of the Nankuo Construction (南國建設) family.
Suggestions that the whirlwind romance, which is leading to marriage after only six months, is being driven by a pregnancy are providing a rich vein for the gossip rags to mine.
From romance to finance: Chang Chen-yue (張震嶽) is romancing a “long-haired hottie” of his own. The singer is riding a wave, and apart from having nothing to hide (when asked who she was, he simply replied that he had plenty of women friends), his participation in Super Band (縱貫線), together with veteran rockers Lo Ta-yu (羅大佑), Emil Chou (周華健), Jonathan Lee (李宗盛), has proven a huge success.
The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) estimates the band’s 52-show concert tour (six gigs were added on to meet demand), grossed NT$4.3 billion, with each of the performers pulling in NT$100 million.
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
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
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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