A BT pop idol Wang Lee-hom
It had been two and half years since Wang's last concert here, and the new mixed style was not the only accomplishment Wang has been working on. To his gay and female fans' delight, the maturing star has broken through the cocoon of a gentle polite young man, and changed into a sweating wild stud who gave an excellent view of his muscles and dirty danced with girls on the stage.
Judging from the rapturous reactions from the crowd, Wang has chosen the right path.
Local rapper MC Hot Dog, on the other hand, has not been enjoying much appreciation. Though his new album didn't single-handedly trigger the taimei (台妹) furore among the young and hip, the alternative pop icon was denied access to the TV shows of the TVBS television network because he was deemed physically unattra-ctive by one of the producers.
Furious and insulted, his buddy Chang Chen-yue (張震嶽) struck back with an article containing a series of creative sentences containing numerous expletives on his blog.
The producer in question later explained that the whole incident was just one big misunderstanding.
Continuing on the taike note: Taiwanese director Ang Lee's (
Chinese director Zhang Yimou (
Moving on to skeletons in the closets: reports from China indicate that former diva Brigitte Lin (林青霞) is trying to to save her marriage by getting pregnant by her multi-billionaire husband Xing Li-yuan' (邢李源). Lin has two daughters with her husband, and gossips say that now she has to secure her status as the lady of the house by producing a male heir.
It's the same old story: once independent and succes-sful women are reduced to becoming procreating machines to bear children.
After divorcing Mando-pop queen Faye Wang (王菲), Chinese musician Dou Wei (竇唯) has taken an unstoppable downturn in life. Dou divorced his second wife, lost his job as a touring performer at pubs and now spends most of his time hanging out with friends at joints in Beijing, according to a Chinese-language daily.
How about Wei and Wang's daughter Tong Tong (
The 22-year-old Hebe of the three-piece girl band S.H.E has grown into a young lady oozing with fatal attraction, at least to 39-year-old local actor/director Niu Cheng-ze (鈕承澤). The two were recently spotted by local paparazzi making out in a car.
The girl said Niu is just like a big brother to her, and the guy said it was just a dinner appointment. But according to gossip insiders, director Niu has been chomping at the bit to ask Hebe out for the last three years.
Last week, Viola Zhou published a marvelous deep dive into the culture clash between Taiwanese boss mentality and American labor practices at the Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) plant in Arizona in Rest of World. “The American engineers complained of rigid, counterproductive hierarchies at the company,” while the Taiwanese said American workers aren’t dedicated. The article is a delight, but what it is depicting is the clash between a work culture that offers employee autonomy and at least nods at work-life balance, and one that runs on hierarchical discipline enforced by chickenshit. And it runs on chickenshit because chickenshit is a cultural
By far the most jarring of the new appointments for the incoming administration is that of Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) to head the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). That is a huge demotion for one of the most powerful figures in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Tseng has one of the most impressive resumes in the party. He was very active during the Wild Lily Movement and his generation is now the one taking power. He has served in many of the requisite government, party and elected positions to build out a solid political profile. Elected as mayor of Taoyuan as part of the
Moritz Mieg, 22, lay face down in the rubble, the ground shaking violently beneath him. Boulders crashed down around him, some stones hitting his back. “I just hoped that it would be one big hit and over, because I did not want to be hit nearly to death and then have to slowly die,” the student from Germany tells Taipei Times. MORNING WALK Early on April 3, Mieg set out on a scenic hike through Taroko Gorge in Hualien County (花蓮). It was a fine day for it. Little did he know that the complex intersection of tectonic plates Taiwan sits
When picturing Tainan, what typically comes to mind is charming alleyways, Japanese architecture and world-class cuisine. But look beyond the fray, through stained glass windows and sliding bookcases, and there exists a thriving speakeasy subculture, where innovative mixologists ply their trade, serving exquisite concoctions and unique flavor profiles to rival any city in Taiwan. Speakeasies hail from the prohibition era of 1920s America. When alcohol was outlawed, people took their business to hidden establishments; requiring patrons to use hushed tones — speak easy — to conceal their illegal activities. Nowadays legal, speakeasy bars are simply hidden bars, often found behind bookcases