It’s been how many months since Edison Chen’s (陳冠希) said he would leave the Hong Kong entertainment industry forever? That was in February, and there are already rumors that he is angling for a ticket back. According to a report on Sina.com (新浪網), director Andrew Lau (劉偉強)of Infernal Affairs (無間道) fame might be prevailed upon to give the lad a helping hand. The two developed a friendship during the making of Lau’s groundbreaking trilogy. Interest in Chen spiked slightly after he appeared in the Batman blockbuster The Dark Knight, albeit for just two seconds, but do we really want him back so soon? Watch this space.
Taiwan’s favorite supermodel Lin Chi-ling (林志玲) showed her quality on Wednesday when attending Catwalk’s (凱渥) 2nd Star of Your Dreams (第二屆凱渥夢幻之星) modeling competition. (Catwalk is Taiwan’s most influential modeling agency.) And Apple Daily showed its quality yesterday by using the lead paragraph of its story on this event to note that Lin sports a cup size of 34C and that she was wearing a NT$9,810,000 necklace. Loosely translated, the headline yesterday read “Massive tits overawe aspiring models.” You can always be sure Apple Daily will give you the key points at a glace.
But back on the subject of Lin, she has shown that she can take the rough with the smooth. News that her gig as the host of CCTV’s Mid-Autumn Festival variety show had been nixed broke earlier this week, but local media angling for a big response were disappointed. Speculation abounds that this last-minute casting change is the result of Lin’s father expressing himself rather too freely in support of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Lin played it cool, taking the responsibility onto herself, saying that she had been too busy to prepare for the task sufficiently well, and that she hoped that in future she’d have another chance to host the program. End of story. Then again, perhaps she was simply embodying the philosophy with which she encouraged the competition’s participants: “The job of a model is to make everybody happy,” she said in her speech to the competitors. Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell may beg to differ.
The skies above Taiwan may not be safe for very much longer. Variety host Zhang Fei (張菲) has taken up flying. He has just spent NT$5 million on purchasing a light aircraft of his own, but has been practicing using a friend’s. Having clocked up a grand total of 25 hours of flying time, he has told the media that he now aims to start a flying school. And Pop Stop thought the streets of Taipei were dangerous. According to the Apple Daily, he has already been in touch with the Civil Aeronautics Administration to establish better regulations for recreational flying in Taiwan.
When asked why he had taken up flying, the debonair show host quipped: “It’s the only way to keep above Taiwan’s plummeting share market.”
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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