With newfound stardom comes heartbreak, at least for singer Hsu Chia-ying (徐佳瑩), aka Lala Shu, who became a household name after winning the third season of CTV’s One Million Star (超級星光大道) talent show. The 25-year-old split up with her beau of two years, fellow aspiring singer Born Lee (李伯恩), after seeing an incriminating text message from another woman on his mobile phone.
It wasn’t a case of snooping, though. The Apple Daily helpfully detailed her unceremonious discovery of Lee’s infidelity: The two were out having breakfast several weeks ago, fresh from celebrating her five nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards. Hsu’s cellphone ran out of power, so she borrowed Lee’s iPhone, whereupon she saw a “suspicious” text message from “Catherine,” an up-and-coming actress from a TV talk show for college students.
An Apple Daily reporter cornered Hsu after spotting her shopping at Taipei 101, where she denied the text message was the sole reason for the breakup, although “it was the last straw.” Asked if there was any chance of reconciliation with Lee, who was Hsu’s fellow contestant on One Million Star and once declared his love to her on the program, she answered, “Impossible.” But she said she has no regrets and the relationship has led to some “soul-searching.”
Perhaps Hsu should follow A-mei’s (張惠妹) example, after all, the diva well knows that celebrity romance isn’t easy, but the perks of stardom do offer some solace.
The pop star headed to Los Angeles earlier this week for three concerts and is making the most out of her trip: first-class air travel, five-star hotel, and a trip to Las Vegas during her two-week stay in the US. The Apple Daily reports that an American company, Amway, is spending a total of NT$13.5 million on bringing the Mando-pop queen to LA.
A-mei has set aside NT$330,000 for a road-trip to Las Vegas with her entourage, which Apple suggests is a good chance to heal after breaking up with basketball star Sam Ho (何守正).
Not letting the grass grow under her feet, A-mei already has a new crush, so says Chinese pop singer Na Ying (那英), who claims that her friend and labelmate at Warner Music is interested in a fellow acquaintance from Beijing. Na accidentally spilled the beans last week at press conference in Taipei, where she is slated to perform next month. Our sister paper the Liberty Times later pressed Na for more details, but she wouldn’t budge, except to add that the prospective Prince Charming is not a wealthy businessman or an athlete.
One story racking up hits on the Internet this week is the court battle between actress Alyssa Chia (賈靜雯) and her ex-husband Sun Chih-hao (孫志浩). Chia recently won custody of their five-year old daughter in the US, where she had been living with Sun’s family. Sun has retaliated in the Taiwanese courts by suing Chia for custody of “Sister Wutong” (梧桐妹), as their daughter is referred to in the press, her half of a shared apartment in Shanghai and NT$26 million in cash.
Sun says this hefty sum is to reclaim the NT$5 million he gave to the Chia family when they got married, as well as further monthly payments of NT$100,000. Chia and her lawyer have balked at the suit and countered that the money had already been returned several years ago, and that Sun has failed to pay any of their daughter’s living expenses. And it’s not as if Sun needs the cash. The Apple Daily says Sun rakes in NT$230,000 a month through his father’s cargo transport firm and his family holds over NT$100 million in real estate assets, which include properties in Shanghai, Los Angeles and Taipei.
Spectacular failure seems to go hand-in-hand with celebrity romances, at least on the gossip pages, but here’s a happy beginning: Selina Jen (任家萱) of the popular girl group S.H.E received a surprise marriage proposal from her boyfriend Richard Chang (張承中) on stage during a concert at Taipei Arena (台北小巨蛋).
The stunt, which Chang conceived after consulting with Jen’s bandmates and their record label, didn’t exactly go as planned, according to the China Times. After picking up a microphone and rambling on about his well wishes for the group in front of a cheering audience of 10,000, Chang became flustered. Instead of getting down on bended knee to ask for her hand in marriage, the lawyer blurted out “My wife, I love you.” Jen had already gotten the message anyway, and was in tears.
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
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
I am kneeling quite awkwardly on a cushion in a yoga studio in London’s Shoreditch on an unseasonably chilly Wednesday and wondering when exactly will be the optimum time to rearrange my legs. I have an ice-cold mango and passion fruit kombucha beside me and an agonising case of pins and needles. The solution to pins and needles, I learned a few years ago, is to directly confront the agony: pull your legs out from underneath you, bend your toes up as high as they can reach, and yes, it will hurt far more initially, but then the pain subsides.
When 17-year-old Lin Shih (林石) crossed the Taiwan Strait in 1746 with a group of settlers, he could hardly have known the magnitude of wealth and influence his family would later amass on the island, or that one day tourists would be walking through the home of his descendants in central Taiwan. He might also have been surprised to see the family home located in Wufeng District (霧峰) of Taichung, as Lin initially settled further north in what is now Dali District (大里). However, after the Qing executed him for his alleged participation in the Lin Shuang-Wen Rebellion (林爽文事件), his grandsons were
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