As 2011 draws to a close, celebrities have made this the year of the showbiz wedding.
Over the past 10 months, a slew of A-listers, including self-styled actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛, aka Big S), TV sweetheart Patty Hou (侯佩岑), star couple Christine Fan (范瑋琪) and Charles Chen (陳建州, better known as Blackie), singer Stephanie Sun (孫燕姿) and belle Kelly Lin (林熙蕾) have tied the knot.
The nuptials that received top media billing were those of pop singer Selina Jen (任家萱), who wed 39-year-old lawyer Richard Chang (張承中).
Photo: Taipei Times
Following a year of medical treatment for serious burns she sustained while filming a TV show in China in October last year, Jen, a member of girl band S.H.E, was married on her 30th birthday, on Monday.
The event, full of warm, touching moments as the teary-eyed bride received blessings from friends and relatives, attracted more than 200 members of the media.
Because of her injuries, Jen sat through most of the three-hour-long wedding reception. The Apple Daily reported that the star underwent eight hours of rehabilitation each day since suffering multiple third-degree burns and cannot stand for longer than five minutes without taking a break.
Photo: Taipei Times
Not ones to let romance go to their heads, gossip hounds spent the evening sniffing out awkward moments between celebrity guests who are erstwhile lovers or old rivals.
Attention focused on pop diva Chang Hui-mei’s (張惠妹, better known as A-mei, 阿妹) old flame Wang Lee-hom (王力宏) and rumored new love Harlem Yu (庾澄慶). Much to the dismay of members of paparazzi, Wang and Chang were seen conversing over drinks amicably.
“We are good friends,” Wang told reporters.
Things were less peaceful between Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) and Patty Hou, who reportedly stole Jay Chou (周杰倫) from Tsai in 2004. In response to years-old rumors of a feud between her and Tsai, the married Hou claimed she often bumped into Tsai at the airport, and they always greet each other.
“Did I do that?” Tsai replied when asked to comment on Hou’s remark.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, international star Coco Lee (李玟) became the subject of admiration and envy when she wed 52-year-old Canadian businessman Bruce Rockowitz in a lavish ceremony on Thursday last week.
In terms of sumptuousness, Lee and Rockowitz’s nuptials lead the field, with two days of celebrations that reportedly cost NT$600 million. The wedding was rated by the press as the most expensive to be held in Hong Kong.
Readers might wonder how hundreds of millions of NT dollars could be spent in just two days, but with more than 300 guests flying in from the four corners of the world to attend the ceremony and stay at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, all courtesy of the newly weds, it’s not such a surprise.
Entertainment was provided by Grammy-winning musicians Bruno Mars, Alicia Keys and Ne-Yo, while the Shaw Brothers Film Studio, which, according to the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper), is normally not allowed to be rented out for private use, was turned into a playground for the rich and powerful.
Guests who graced the event included fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger and Christopher Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong.
Jennifer Lopez, Oprah Winfrey and Beyonce, however, didn’t show up as previously promised.
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