Always Faithful (
These same fans of the pop legend filled the seats at Always Faithful, the musical produced by Teng's brother Teng Chang-hsi (鄧長禧) in 2002. The musical adaptation of her life story, starring Golden Horse Best Actress Angelica Lee (李心潔), had 25 critically acclaimed performances in Hong Kong.
Teng's fans in Taiwan will see a new version of the musical this weekend at the Metropolitan Hall (
PHOTO COURTESY OF TERESA TENG CULTURAL FOUNDATION
As Pong and Liu are talented singers in their own right, the musical, which includes some 30 Teresa Teng hits and 10 original songs, is expected to present a enjoyable evening of pop classics.
The Teresa Teng Cultural Foundation (鄧麗君文教基金會) has spent around NT$10 million on the production, with meticulously recreated 1970s costumes and settings. Lead actress Pong admitted that she had felt a lot of stress playing the pop legend. The contagiously poignant plot twists drove her to tears many times, she said.
The story starts with Teng's singing talent being discovered by her music teacher at the age of nine. The teenage Teng aspires to sing for her fellow countrymen and her talent and efforts gradually allow her to attain stardom.
However, her love life does not progress as smoothly. Two romances at different stages of her life have come to nothing and Teng realizes that she has to choose music over a personal life. She has no regrets as long as her singing touches people.
What was the population of Taiwan when the first Negritos arrived? In 500BC? The 1st century? The 18th? These questions are important, because they can contextualize the number of babies born last month, 6,523, to all the people on Taiwan, indigenous and colonial alike. That figure represents a year on year drop of 3,884 babies, prefiguring total births under 90,000 for the year. It also represents the 26th straight month of deaths exceeding births. Why isn’t this a bigger crisis? Because we don’t experience it. Instead, what we experience is a growing and more diverse population. POPULATION What is Taiwan’s actual population?
After Jurassic Park premiered in 1993, people began to ask if scientists could really bring long-lost species back from extinction, just like in the hit movie. The idea has triggered “de-extinction” debates in several countries, including Taiwan, where the focus has been on the Formosan clouded leopard (designated after 1917 as Neofelis nebulosa brachyura). National Taiwan Museum’s (NTM) Web site describes the Formosan clouded leopard as “a subspecies endemic to Taiwan…it reaches a body length of 0.6m to 1.2m and tail length of 0.7m to 0.9m and weighs between 15kg and 30kg. It is entirely covered with beautiful cloud-like spots
For the past five years, Sammy Jou (周祥敏) has climbed Kinmen’s highest peak, Taiwu Mountain (太武山) at 6am before heading to work. In the winter, it’s dark when he sets out but even at this hour, other climbers are already coming down the mountain. All of this is a big change from Jou’s childhood during the Martial Law period, when the military requisitioned the mountain for strategic purposes and most of it was off-limits. Back then, only two mountain trails were open, and they were open only during special occasions, such as for prayers to one’s ancestors during Lunar New Year.
March 23 to March 29 Kao Chang (高長) set strict rules for his descendants: women were to learn music or cooking, and the men medicine or theology. No matter what life path they chose, they were to use their skills in service of the Presbyterian Church and society. As a result, musical ability — particularly in Western instruments — was almost expected among the Kao women, and even those who married into the family often had musical training. Although the men did not typically play instruments, they played a supporting role, helping to organize music programs such as children’s orchestras, writes
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