Edison Chen (陳冠希) has left the building, but the storm he has stirred up is likely to rage a while longer. After all, it's all grist to the media mill. Next magazine plumbed new depths this week with its feature story on one of the hookers who reportedly provided services for the former Canto-crooner.
Besides the stars who were involved in the sex photo scandal and the others rumored to feature in the unreleased photos confiscated by police, old friend and staunch supporter, Shu Qi (舒淇), has been tainted by association.
A series of T-shirts released by Original Fake in association with Clot depicts the ex-sex kitten in lace knickers with garters and a backless nurse costume. On another shirt she is portrayed getting intimate with a cartoon sperm. Internet gossipmongers have been quick to spot similarities in the provocative pose with those in the photos taken from Chen's computer. The fact that Shu has been a staunch supporter of Chen even after the scandal broke has only lent fuel to the fire. Then again, Shu's sex life has hardly been a closely guarded secret, so even though she has now given up her vampish ways and is a bad girl gone good, the whole business of being seen getting naked on camera must just seem so last year.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
In other news, the first celebrity feud stemming from CTV's One Million Star (超級星光大道) pop idol reality show is about to begin. Jam Xiao (蕭敬騰) and Aska Yang (楊宗緯), who managed to manipulate press hype surrounding his disqualification into stardom, are going at it. Though Xiao defeated Yang during the first season of the show, both have been signed to Warner, but Yang once again seems to have gotten the short end of the stick. Jam is in the hands of Chen Tse-shan (陳澤杉), the celebrated music impressario who the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister paper) says will return to Warner Music in May, after two-and-a-half years as director of EMI. Chen, who is rumored to be taking many high-powered EMI artists with him, has procured for Xiao a lucrative eight-figure deal which includes all of Warner's international marketing muscle. Yang, whose recently released album Dove (鴿子) hit number one on the G-Music charts this week, is hardly complaining, but according to Next magazine, the fact that he is being handled by showbiz entrepreneur Hsu An-chin (許安進) means that Warner will view him as an "outsider," denying him the perks of their own house artists.
Yang has further competition from Lin You-jia (林宥嘉), who won the first season of One Million Star. Yang will be holding his first major concert on May 17, and is likely to be compared with Lin, who will start an nationwide tour on May 24 following the release of his first album. A report in the United Daily News (UDN) says that tickets are already selling well and that he is likely to perform before 12,000 people.
A-Mei (張惠妹) is over 20 and has wowed stadiums seating thousands, but "the light of Taiwan" (台灣之光), as she is described in a UDN report, is suffering from sleepless nights as she prepares to take the stage in a Japanese production of Turandot. She is currently in Tokyo working day and night on this unconventional role. UDN quoted A-Mei as saying that she is so nervous that she has broken out in pimples, but at least she doesn't have the pressure of being a superstar over there. "It's like when I was a student in Boston," she said. "Nobody knows me here, so there isn't the pressure of being A-Mei."
Just after 6am, I walked up to the ticket gate at Taipei Main Station and entered the Taiwan Railway platform without scanning any ticket; instead, I flashed the Sanrio Fun Rail pass on my phone to the gate worker and was admitted. I found my train and prepared to board. My destination? This very same station. I was embarking on a 13-hour journey on one of two round-the-island trains operated by ezTravel. They run each day, one counterclockwise around the island and one clockwise. They differ in a number of ways from an ordinary Taiwan Railway train and can make for
Jason Han says that the e-arrival card spat between South Korea and Taiwan shows that Seoul is signaling adherence to its “one-China” policy, while Taiwan’s response reflects a reciprocal approach. “Attempts to alter the diplomatic status quo often lead to tit-for-tat responses,” the analyst on international affairs tells the Taipei Times, adding that Taiwan may become more cautious in its dealings with South Korea going forward. Taipei has called on Seoul to correct its electronic entry system, which currently lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan),” warning that reciprocal measures may follow if the wording is not changed before March 31. As of yesterday,
The Portuguese never established a presence on Taiwan, but they must have traded with the indigenous people because later traders reported that the locals referred to parts of deer using Portuguese words. What goods might the Portuguese have offered their indigenous trade partners? Among them must have been slaves, for the Portuguese dealt slaves across Asia. Though we often speak of “Portuguese” ships, imagining them as picturesque vessels manned by pointy-bearded Iberians, in Asia Portuguese shipping between local destinations was crewed by Asian seamen, with a handful of white or Eurasian officers. “Even the great carracks of 1,000-2,000 tons which plied
On Thursday, former Taipei mayor and founder of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Seven others related to the case were also handed prison sentences, while two were found not guilty. It has been a bad week for the TPP. On Tuesday, prosecutors charged Chinese immigrant Xu Chunying (徐春鶯) with suspicion of taking part in Beijing-directed election interference. Xu has strong links to the TPP, which once offered her a party list legislator nomination. Tuesday also
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