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.
Taiwan doesn’t have a lot of railways, but its network has plenty of history. The government-owned entity that last year became the Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) has been operating trains since 1891. During the 1895-1945 period of Japanese rule, the colonial government made huge investments in rail infrastructure. The northern port city of Keelung was connected to Kaohsiung in the south. New lines appeared in Pingtung, Yilan and the Hualien-Taitung region. Railway enthusiasts exploring Taiwan will find plenty to amuse themselves. Taipei will soon gain its second rail-themed museum. Elsewhere there’s a number of endearing branch lines and rolling-stock collections, some
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and the country’s other political groups dare not offend religious groups, says Chen Lih-ming (陳立民), founder of the Taiwan Anti-Religion Alliance (台灣反宗教者聯盟). “It’s the same in other democracies, of course, but because political struggles in Taiwan are extraordinarily fierce, you’ll see candidates visiting several temples each day ahead of elections. That adds impetus to religion here,” says the retired college lecturer. In Japan’s most recent election, the Liberal Democratic Party lost many votes because of its ties to the Unification Church (“the Moonies”). Chen contrasts the progress made by anti-religion movements in
Could Taiwan’s democracy be at risk? There is a lot of apocalyptic commentary right now suggesting that this is the case, but it is always a conspiracy by the other guys — our side is firmly on the side of protecting democracy and always has been, unlike them! The situation is nowhere near that bleak — yet. The concern is that the power struggle between the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and their now effectively pan-blue allies the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) intensifies to the point where democratic functions start to break down. Both
This was not supposed to be an election year. The local media is billing it as the “2025 great recall era” (2025大罷免時代) or the “2025 great recall wave” (2025大罷免潮), with many now just shortening it to “great recall.” As of this writing the number of campaigns that have submitted the requisite one percent of eligible voters signatures in legislative districts is 51 — 35 targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus lawmakers and 16 targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The pan-green side has more as they started earlier. Many recall campaigns are billing themselves as “Winter Bluebirds” after the “Bluebird Action”
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