It’s been half a decade since they split, but the sight of Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) and Jay Chou (周杰倫) together still has the power to send the media and fans into a frenzy.
Tsai made a surprise appearance on Sunday at the end of Chou’s last concert in Taipei before the Mando-pop prince’s world tour. Their sultry duet seemed designed to titillate fans and make them nostalgic for the days when the pair were known as the “Double-Js” (雙-J). During Tsai’s short appearance, the crowd chanted “Get back together!” (復合) over and over again. But Chou has adamantly denied that the reunion with Tsai is romantic, insisting that the two are “just friends.”
When asked by reporters if he was worried fans outside of Taiwan would be disappointed that Tsai wasn’t accompanying him on the world tour, Chou said, “Not at all, this is our home,” which prompted a surprised gasp from the crowd.
“I meant, our hometown!” Chou quickly clarified.
The Jay-Jolin pas de deux was only a couple of minutes long, but it dominated the gossip pages for several days. Fans who had gone to Chou’s previous two shows in Taipei were upset that they paid the same amount for tickets, but missed Tsai’s surprise appearance. Even Patty Hou (侯佩岑) — host of TV talk show Azio Superstar and the woman who got between the Double-Js in the first place — wanted a piece of the action. Chou left Tsai for Hou in 2005, but the relationship floundered the following year. When Hou, who has since married, saw footage of her ex and his ex dancing, she exclaimed “How amazing! Everyone must be going crazy!” Hou then publicly extended an invitation to Tsai to appear on Azio Superstar.
The ruckus also gave Next Magazine yet another excuse to ogle Tsai’s chest. The gossip magazine headlined a story “When Jay Chou says ‘come back to my side,’ Jolin Tsai shrinks,” a cheeky reference to a lyric from Chou’s new song Long Time No See (好久不見), which fans have speculated was meant as a peace offering to Tsai.
While noting that Tsai’s weight loss may have been the result of a back injury she suffered last spring, Next also pointed out that most of the weight seemed to have been lost from her breasts, which once earned her the sobriquet “G Milk” (G奶, a reference to her supposed cup size). The singer is probably more of a 33C now, Next declared. “She’s flat now,” the tabloid mourned, ignoring the fact that Tsai’s twins are still comfortably one letter away from A-cup oblivion.
Lee Chin-liang (李進良) probably wishes that his media problems could disappear as rapidly as Tsai’s boobs supposedly have. Readers of Pop Stop will know that the alleged roving eye and legal problems of Hu Gua’s (胡瓜) son-in-law have been a constant source of worry for the popular TV host. Lee’s rap sheet includes charges of sexual harassment, an all-night party with two friends and three hostesses at a Taipei hotel, and being caught shepherding starlet Mao Mao (毛毛) to a Taoyuan hotel just days before his wedding to Hu Ying-chen (胡盈禎) last fall. Lee’s reputation as a plastic surgeon was also dealt a major blow last fall when he was fined NT$150,000 and ordered to stop working for three months by the Taipei Department of Health after illegally inserting silicone breast implants into a patient.
Throughout the various scandals, Lee’s wife and father-in-law have stood by him — but the stress and media coverage appears to be taking a toll on Hu Ying-chen. When paparazzi intercepted the pair at the movie theater last week, Lee reached for his wife’s hand, only to have Hu shake him off, the Liberty Times reported. A photo showed the storm-weathered duo sulking on an escalator, with Lee a few steps behind Hu. The incident must have cast a pall over what was supposed to be a family outing — Hu Gua, his longtime girlfriend Ding Ro-an (丁柔安) and his son and daughter-in-law were all in attendance.
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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