The media has long been intrigued over the possibility of a rekindled romance between the nation’s most famous heartthrob, Jerry Yan (言承旭), and its top female supermodel, Lin Chi-ling (林志玲).
Yan supposedly never got over Lin after they first broke up. Lin is said to have broken up with a previous suitor, Scott Chiu (邱士楷), the son of a toilet magnate, and has hinted to reporters that she still has a soft spot for Yan.
And now, recent comments by Lin’s father, Lin Fan-nan (林繁男), are fanning the flames once again. Interviewed by reporters at a charity auction, the elder Lin praised Yan as “the light of Taiwan” (台灣之光), referring to the actor/model’s popularity in Japan, which was underlined earlier this week when 8,000 fans in Tokyo showed up for a public stadium appearance by Yan.
Photo: Taipei Times
The Apple Daily asked if the elder Lin’s words could be taken as an endorsement — wouldn’t “the light of Taiwan” and Taiwan’s number one model make a perfect married couple?
But his answer was vague and circumspect. “You can’t talk about marriage just for the sake of it,” he said. “A wedding is a major event. The more friends you can make, the better.”
Yan and Lin Chih-ling do share one thing in common these days: they’re both getting big in Japan.
Lin, who is trying to jumpstart her acting career, reprised her role in John Woo’s Red Cliff (赤壁) for a Japanese-language stage production of the film, and has also been a growing presence in Japanese fashion advertising. As for Yan, he continues to milk the fame earned from his role 11 years ago in the TV drama Meteor Garden (流星花園). His appearance at the aforementioned event in Tokyo earned him a cool NT$25 million.
One actor that will not be raking in the cash this year is Ethan Ruan (阮經天). The 29-year-old star of the hit gangster movie Monga (艋舺) has started his compulsory military service, foregoing his normal NT$20 million in yearly earnings for the serviceman’s salary of NT$9,955 a month.
On Tuesday, Ruan, who completed basic training in Taichung last month, started at his post in New Taipei City, where he is serving as an office staffer for the New Taipei City Government’s Education Bureau. And naturally, the media were out in full force to document Ruan’s first day on the job.
As our sister paper, the Liberty Times put it, an “entourage comparable to that of the New Taipei City mayor” greeted Ruan outside his Taipei apartment as he got into a taxi en route to the bureau’s offices in Banciao.
Donning the standard uniform of a blue windbreaker, blue hat and blue slacks, Ruan only looked “half as handsome” as he normally does, the Liberty Times report noted.
Ruan adopted a serious tone when reporters cornered him during a free moment in Banciao. When asked how he would react if he ran into fans at the Education Bureau, Ruan replied, “For this one year, my work is to be a serviceman. If I run into fans, I will still concentrate on my work.”
That might be tough until the novelty of having a movie star working in a government office wears off. The Apple Daily reports that female bureau workers have been receiving requests from their friends to get Ruan’s autograph, while other office staff have taken the opportunity to have their photos taken with him (a request he obliged happily, says the Apple Daily).
Even his fellow conscripts find Ruan’s presence a bit surreal — one serviceman was quoted as saying that having conversations with Ruan “is like a dream, it’s a little weird.”
Although it looks like Ruan’s duties at the bureau will be mostly pen-pushing and making copies, one military staffer at the bureau said they are hoping he will agree to participate in anti-drug and anti-bullying campaigns in schools.
He will certainly have to be a good boy during the work week. A typical day’s work schedule for Ruan runs from 8am to 5:30pm with an hour and a half off for lunch. He then has an hour off for dinner before he has to check in at his dormitory in Banciao. According to the Apple Daily, he and his fellow conscripts are restricted from going to nightclubs and bars during the weekdays. But it’s a far cry from life in a prison: they are free to go home on the weekends.
He may not be able to burst the Linsanity bubble, but pop idol Jay Chou (周杰倫) is likely increasing his street cred with loyal fans, having just filmed his second commercial with LA Laker star Kobe Bryant for a popular soda drink. In the first commercial, the two battled it out on the basketball court. This time around Bryant joins “The Chairman” on stage, wielding a guitar. The clip can be viewed at bit.ly/xZ70tO.
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
In Taiwan’s politics the party chair is an extremely influential position. Typically this person is the presumed presidential candidate or serving president. In the last presidential election, two of the three candidates were also leaders of their party. Only one party chair race had been planned for this year, but with the Jan. 1 resignation by the currently indicted Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) two parties are now in play. If a challenger to acting Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) appears we will examine that race in more depth. Currently their election is set for Feb. 15. EXTREMELY
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
They increasingly own everything from access to space to how we get news on Earth and now outgoing President Joe Biden warns America’s new breed of Donald Trump-allied oligarchs could gobble up US democracy itself. Biden used his farewell speech to the nation to deliver a shockingly dark message: that a nation which has always revered its entrepreneurs may now be at their mercy. “An oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms,” Biden said. He named no names, but his targets were clear: men like Elon Musk
RSS