When Canadian-born Hong Kong actor and singer Edison Chen (陳冠希)
and Jolin Tsai (蔡依林)
strutted down the catwalk in 2007 to promote a leading brand of jeans, it seemed like just another fashion show. Months later, however, when explicit pictures were stolen from Chen’s computer showing him with some of Asia’s top female stars in various sexually explicit poses, Netizens were drooling over the prospect that Tsai was among the handful of starlets Chen had photographed.
None, however, emerged.
When the pair showed up last week at the same fashion show, all the old rumors resurfaced.
Organizers, however, were careful to keep the two apart,
with Tsai appearing at the
beginning of the show and Chen at the end. And then there was the mutual backslapping.
Commenting on Chen’s fall from grace, Tsai told the assembled press pack that the scandal wasn’t that bad and she wished him good luck on his forthcoming projects, which include an album of “confessional” songs, slated for release next month. Chen, for his part, said that he admires Tsai’s singing and dancing.
He’s not the only one. Rumors continue to circulate that Tsai’s former flame, Jay Chou (周杰倫), wants to sign her to his JVR Music (杰威爾音樂) label after her current contract with Warner Music (華納音樂) expires this summer.
Both pop stars denied the reports, according to a story in the China Times. The Apple Daily, meanwhile, reported that Tsai has already opened her own record company, which if the precedent set by Chou is anything to go by, is a smart move.
Model Timi Hsiao (蕭依婷), who once appeared in one of the Chairman’s videos, has, allegedly, been caught with drugs.
But that’s not all. A follow-up investigation by the police revealed that Hsiao was involved in a prostitution ring operated by mamasan and former beauty pageant finalist Ling Wei-wei (凌葳威), reported Apple.
Ling is alleged to have pimped out B-grade actresses, singers and models to patrons in Taiwan, China and Singapore for NT$60,000 a pop.
Hsiao later said that she had recently run into financial trouble and only agreed to “dinner dates” as a way of earning extra money and denied that anything untoward had happened.
Ling was quoted as saying that she only arranges the dates with clients and what they do on the assignations is their own affair.
Meanwhile, a SetTV (三立) reporter is in the firing line over a question she posed to child star Hsiao Hsiao Bin (小小彬), the stage name of Wen Hsuan-yeh (溫玄燁).
At a promotional event attended by Bianca Bai (白歆惠), Xiao Xiao Bin’s mom on the hit television series P.S. Man (偷心大聖P.S.男), the reporter queried the five-year-old about a report in the United Daily News that suggested whenever he appeared in a show, its ratings plummeted.
“You are always on television, [but] how would you feel if [audiences] didn’t want to see you anymore?” the reporter asked. The comments clearly got to the youngster because he later asked his father, “Why doesn’t everyone want to see me?”
Needless to say, the stunt has turned into a PR nightmare for SetTV. In a statement, the company said its reporter asked the question as a way of giving the kid “an opportunity to explain himself.”
And finally, an addition to the annual roster of ridiculous polls. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia-Pacific’s annual Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity vote celebrates those in the entertainment industry who don’t eat meat. Big S (大S), otherwise known as Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), and Blue Lan (藍正龍) were leading the Taiwanese pack as of press time. To cast a ballot, visit www.petaasiapacific.com/featureSexiestVegCeleb2010-Eng.asp?c=papsv10epr.
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
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