Pop Stop turns to commerce this week since businessman Terry Gou (郭台銘) of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) has been making the biggest headlines in the world of entertainment. Taiwan's richest man (worth an estimated NT$181.5 billion) told Business Today (今周刊) this week he was determined to get married again soon. His former wife died two years ago of breast cancer and the man with a plan was quoted as saying, "I'm definitely going to pursue the second love of my life … . It doesn't matter who it is, we're going to be very happy."
If he courts women the way he runs his business it will be done with almost military efficiency and a shortlist of applicants has almost certainly been drawn up. TVBS led the intense coverage of Gou's quest this week and commented that the Hon Hai chairman has set five conditions for the future Mrs. Gou. Job applicants must be above 30 years old, beautiful, healthy, outgoing and possess good taste. Apparently, she does not have to have much going in the brains department, but that does not rule out frontrunner Carina Lau (劉嘉玲). The Hong Kong actress was made CEO of a TV shopping channel last year, but made a hash of it. Questioned about the company's performance, Lau admitted she was not well educated and this may have been why the company lost so much money.
Though Gou has been caught flirting with Lau at KTV, vacationed with her in Ilan (宜蘭) and took her "flying" in his private jet he caused a frenzy by telling media, in English, "She (Lau) is not the only one." At his company's recent year-end party he did the tango with Lin Chi-ling (林志玲) and he has been spotted making nice with Hong Kong actress Rosamund Kwan (關之琳), who admitted she was keen to "invest" in his business. Since Gou has also said the second love of his life was likely to be named "Lin" it looks as if it is a three-horse race between the beauties abovementioned. TVBS further speculated that Kwan was out of the picture and gave Lau six marks to Lin's five, because she is more outgoing.
While the local press gets good marks for its coverage of financial stories it gets a fail grade for smearing the good name of model Janel Tsai (蔡淑臻), who was accused of earning extra money by dancing the horizontal mambo. Next Magazine's (壹週刊) investigative reporters then discovered that Tsai has a body double (分身) called "Jennifer," who has appeared on TV shows as a host and has the identical tattoo on her belly that Tsai has. Jennifer was the real hooker Next decided and as of press time was facing a lawsuit if it did not retract its comments.
A few weeks ago I found myself at a Family Mart talking with the morning shift worker there, who has become my coffee guy. Both of us were in a funk over the “unseasonable” warm weather, a state of mind known as “solastalgia” — distress produced by environmental change. In fact, the weather was not that out of the ordinary in boiling Central Taiwan, and likely cooler than the temperatures we will experience in the near-future. According to the Taiwan Adaptation Platform, between 1957 and 2006, summer lengthened by 27.8 days, while winter shrunk by 29.7 days. Winter is not
A sultry sea mist blankets New Taipei City as I pedal from Tamsui District (淡水) up the coast. This might not be ideal beach weather but it’s fine weather for riding –– the cloud cover sheltering arms and legs from the scourge of the subtropical sun. The dedicated bikeway that connects downtown Taipei with the west coast of New Taipei City ends just past Fisherman’s Wharf (漁人碼頭) so I’m not the only cyclist jostling for space among the SUVs and scooters on National Highway No. 2. Many Lycra-clad enthusiasts are racing north on stealthy Giants and Meridas, rounding “the crown coast”
March 25 to March 31 A 56-year-old Wu Li Yu-ke (吳李玉哥) was straightening out her artist son’s piles of drawings when she inadvertently flipped one over, revealing the blank backside of the paper. Absent-mindedly, she picked up a pencil and recalled how she used to sketch embroidery designs for her clothing business. Without clients and budget or labor constraints to worry about, Wu Li drew freely whatever image came to her mind. With much more free time now that her son had found a job, she found herself missing her home village in China, where she
Taiwan’s post-World War II architecture, “practical, cheap and temporary,” not to mention “rather forgettable.” This was a characterization recently given by Taiwan-based historian John Ross on his Formosa Files podcast. Yet the 1960s and 1970s were, in fact, the period of Taiwan’s foundational building boom, which, to a great extent, defined the look of Taiwan’s cities, determining the way denizens live today. During this period, functionalist concrete blocks and Chinese nostalgia gave way to new interpretations of modernism, large planned communities and high-rise skyscrapers. It is currently the subject of a new exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Modern