Maggie Cheung (張曼玉) and her chisel-faced squeeze, German architect Ole Scheeren, may be getting hitched soon, reports our sister newspaper the Liberty Times via Hong Kong gossip rag Oriental Sunday.
Cheung and Scheeren, who resembles Willem Dafoe’s less ominous-looking younger brother, met last year after Cheung split up with jewelry magnate Guillaume Brochard. Scheeren, the business partner of Rem Koolhaas, designed the Prada Epicenters in New York and Los Angeles and is one of the brains behind the new CCTV Headquarters in Beijing. The Liberty Times breathlessly reports that the man has looks, talent and wealth — not to mention a penchant for making buildings that look like upside-down U magnets.
That combo supposedly has Cheung so enraptured that she may be willing to hitch up her pencil skirts and jet off to Paris to set up housekeeping with her alpha male. In fact, Cheung reportedly was ready for marriage earlier, but Scheeren wanted to wait until the CCTV headquarters had entered its final construction stage.
Oriental Sunday spotted Cheung and Scheeren visiting her dear friend Cherie Chung (鍾楚紅) recently. The magazine says Chung is helping the couple plan their nuptials, but the Hong Kong actress kept mum about any plans.
Marriage or not, Scheeren proved his adoration by unveiling a painting of his lady love at an art exhibit in Beijing. The portrait features a baby-faced Cheung with “glistening teardrops” in her widely spaced eyes. To Pop Stop, it makes the actress look like a fetus with lipstick on.
Speaking of fetuses, Hong Kong pop diva Faye Wong (王菲) is pregnant for the third time. Let the bumpwatch begin! Her agent confirmed the news in a rather roundabout way by telling Ming Pao Daily that congratulations were due to the superstar and her husband Li Yapeng (李亞鵬).
The gestating Li-Wong bundle is the diva’s third child: she already has two daughters, an 11-year-old from her first marriage to Dou Wei (竇唯) and a two-year-old with Li. The tyke was the flower girl at Tony Leung (梁朝偉) and Carina Lau’s (劉嘉玲) lavish Bhutan nuptials last month and, according to film star Brigitte Lin (林青霞), the moppet was feted like a “little Buddha.”
Despite not needing a flower girl in the immediate future, Mando-pop star Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) was nonetheless zipped into a fluffy white wedding dress and paraded at a promotional event for Head & Shoulders shampoo earlier this week. The bridal theme is ironic considering that Tsai follows fellow Jay Chou (周杰倫) exes Vivian Hsu (徐若瑄) and Patty Hou (侯佩岑) as the hair-care brand’s spokeswoman.
When asked if she felt a bit “awkward” about being the third Chou paramour to hawk Head & Shoulders shampoo, Tsai merely twinkled and said, “It’s not awkward! We all have beautiful hair, that’s why we’re the spokeswomen.”
Tsai didn’t lose her cool in that exchange, but nearly lost her top a bit earlier as she attempted to toss her bouquet, sending the bodice of her strapless gown southwards. The flustered Tsai grabbed her dress just in time, depriving the public of a chance to see if rumors of Tsai’s boob job are indeed true.
Also caught in an awkward moment this week was Taipei socialite Amy Ho (何麗玲), who was photographed by Next Magazine in what appeared to be a passionate embrace with married Four Seas Gang (四海幫) “big brother” Zhang Jian Ying (張建英) on the street after a party.
As was to be expected, Ho immediately went on the defensive, calling a press conference to insist that she and Zhang are merely good buddies. “If I do become romantically involved with anyone, I’ll
be sure let everyone know right away,” said Ho with a straight face. Ho’s ex-boyfriend, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Donald Hwang (黃義交), declined to comment on his former flame’s extracurricular activities.
Closer inspection of the photos reveal that the embrace was probably just as chaste as Ho insists it was. The pics were taken from behind Zhang and from that angle, yes, Ho and Zhang may have been engaged in a rigorous bout of French kissing — but only if their tongues were each 20cm long.
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The Ministry of Education last month proposed a nationwide ban on mobile devices in schools, aiming to curb concerns over student phone addiction. Under the revised regulation, which will take effect in August, teachers and schools will be required to collect mobile devices — including phones, laptops and wearables devices — for safekeeping during school hours, unless they are being used for educational purposes. For Chang Fong-ching (張鳳琴), the ban will have a positive impact. “It’s a good move,” says the professor in the department of
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