POP STOP

After years away from the glamorous catwalk, former supermodel Wang Jing-ying (王靜瑩) dropped a bombshell at a press conference last Wednesday, admitting to the public that she had become a victim of domestic violence. Once dubbed ``the most beautiful china doll in Taiwan,'' Wang accused her husband Chen Wei-tao (陳威陶) of numerous assaults upon her in their so-far-nine-month marriage, including several aggressive acts during her pregnancy. Shivering with fear and in tears, Wang slowly recounted how Chen threw a glass of whisky at her head in a restaurant, which left her with six stitches in the right eye.

Chen, a successful business man, didn't waste a minute in striking back: He immediately held his own press conference to deny all the accusations, and Chen's family said Wang had

suffered from severe post-partum depression and was in an unstable state of mind. Both sides are telling completely contrasting stories, and this mystery remains to be solved. Of course, the paparazzi are on the case.

The local press is spinning the tragedy as another failed example of a beautiful female star trying to marry into a rich family and live happily ever after. The line is that this is the price that beautiful women may have to pay if they aim for the money -- that it's the law of the up-scale marriage market.

Amid all the confusion, one thing is for sure: The fairy-tales about princes and princesses are all just big fat lies, and don't you children fall for it.

In a charity event he attended on Monday, Hong Kong mega star Andy Lau seemed distracted by the excitement over his new Toyota car. The NT$2 million vehicle is said to be a paparazzi-proof, high-tech piece of machinery. It is equipped with surveillance cameras both on the front and at the back, that detects any movement near the car. Passengers are cosseted in the back of the car, which is said to be nearly impregnable. Carina Lau (劉嘉玲), Joey Yung (容祖兒) and Leon Lai (黎明) are all reportedly big fans of this paparazzi-defeating car.

Notorious for her extravagant life style and amazingly rich love life, Hong Kong party queen Zhang Xiao-hui (章小蕙) revealed on Momoko Tao's (陶子) new TV show Peach Protein (桃色蛋白質) her plans to start a new life in New York. She denied the rumor that she is trying to run away from a NT$1 billion debt by emigrating to the Land of Opportunity, saying Hong Kong was a repressive place to live for women, and she just wanted to wave goodbye to the past and start again somewhere new.

``As for the debts, I don't have any. I have job offers for movies and TV commercials. I can support myself in New York,'' Zhang said, even though she hasn't done any substantial work in the past few years. Clearly, she's a good example of how to maintain an upper-class lifestyle using only excellent social skills.

The godmother of the entertainment business in Taiwan, Chang Hsiao-yen (張小燕), announced that she was taking leave of her TV show last Friday, which left the local media speculating on whether or not the beloved TV hostess would retire from showbiz altogether. Chang said she was calling it quits because she didn't want to comply with the rules of the game in the newly established bloodthirsty paparazzi culture. ``I hope I can do a program I like. If increasing the ratings means I have to hurt my friends, I'd rather leave,'' she told the Great Daily News (大成報).