The great and good showed off their warm and fuzzy side over the past week for Mother’s Day by recounting pithy tales from their youths, throwing special dinners and bestowing cash gifts and designer bags on their moms.
Radio station HitFM got the ball rolling when it invited celebrities to show off photos of themselves with their mothers and reveal what presents they gave.
Selina Jen (任家萱) and Ella Chen (陳嘉樺), both members of popular girl group S.H.E, said they would pass on thick red envelopes to their mothers, while Hebe Tian (田馥甄), the band’s third member, gave her mom a pearl necklace.
The China Times reported that actor Mike He (賀軍翔), in what could be interpreted as a somewhat Oedipal gesture, says he carries around a photo of his mother because “she is such a beauty.” More to the point, he said, the photo serves as a reminder of his youthful days when he ran away from home, an event that caused his mother considerable pain.
He has since made up for this indiscretion with an apartment and parties thrown in his mother’s honor.
Meanwhile, actor Mark Chao (趙又廷) whipped up a feast for his mother after she told him that eating out was too pricey, according to reports in China Times and our sister paper the Liberty Times.
Perhaps mom is concerned about the whopping tax bill her son will have to pay this year. The Liberty Times revealed that the actor owes NT$5.2 million in taxes on income of NT$13 million.
In other Chao news, the newbie actor will announce his co-star for the upcoming movie based on the hit cop show Black and White (痞子英雄) at the Cannes Film Festival. Conspicuously absent will be his television co-star and rival Vic Chou (周渝民), who declined to be part of the movie franchise citing other obligations.
The rivalry between the two actors began when Chao took top honors in the Best Actor category at last year’s Golden Bell Awards (金鐘獎), beating out Chou, who was widely expected to win. Chou’s star has gradually waned since then because of alleged bitchy behavior.
While Chao fixed dinner for his mother, singer-songwriter Yen-j (嚴爵) traveled to Kaohsiung to act as a proxy for his mother (who was in the US) by giving his grandmother 66 carnations and taking her out for dinner.
He told the United Daily News that he was somewhat of a prima donna in his youth. He said that during a birthday party for his cousin, he ripped to shreds paper plates used for the cake after he felt ignored by the rest of the family — a display that earned him a severe rebuke from his grandmother. Thinking back, Yen said, “It scared me so much that I haven’t dared to feel jealousy since.”
Singer Rainie Yang (楊丞琳) still hasn’t found the love of her life, but at least fans still adore her. At an autograph session and concert on Mother’s Day, admirers presented her with a cake in the shape of G-cup breasts, a comical allusion to her barely B-cup buds, according to NOWnews. She later had a small get together with her mother and sister.
Three members of boy band Fahrenheit (飛輪海) said they feted their mothers early because they had to perform at Fulong (福隆) beach over the weekend, where 1,000 Japanese and Korean fans paid a hefty NT$50,000 each for a four-day, three-night chance to hobnob with the ambassadors for Tourism Taiwan.
Apple Daily and China Times reported that Jiro Wang (汪東城) treated his mother to a trip to the Shanghai World Expo while Aaron Yan (炎亞綸) said he repaired sour relations with his mother with an NT$30,000 handbag. Apparently the family bond was fractured after Yan’s mother damaged a valuable feng shui trinket. The bag sewed things up nicely. And on the stingier end of the celebrity spectrum, band member Calvin Chen (辰亦儒) said he made a long distance call to his mother.
On Jan. 17, Beijing announced that it would allow residents of Shanghai and Fujian Province to visit Taiwan. The two sides are still working out the details. President William Lai (賴清德) has been promoting cross-strait tourism, perhaps to soften the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) attitudes, perhaps as a sop to international and local opinion leaders. Likely the latter, since many observers understand that the twin drivers of cross-strait tourism — the belief that Chinese tourists will bring money into Taiwan, and the belief that tourism will create better relations — are both false. CHINESE TOURISM PIPE DREAM Back in July
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