Edison Chen (?夢洷) serves as a symbol of trends over the past year and, perhaps, what to expect in 2009. For those of you who have been living in outer space recently, some 1,300 explicit images were stolen from Chen＊s computer showing the star and at least half a dozen Hong Kong celebrities 〞 Gillian Chung (潝釔糽), Bobo Chan (?恅磏), Mandy Chen (?郤?), Cecilia Cheung (?啡皏) and Chiu Ching-yu (猣??), to name a few 〞 in various sexual poses and posted on the Internet. In the resulting ※sex scandal,§ Chen fled overseas amid moralizing by the media and authorities and rumors that he is on the triad＊s hit list (HK$500,000 for either hand). Predictably, the fallout of the scandal included Chen losing several endorsements and promising that he would step out of Hong Kong＊s entertainment industry forever.
If half a million Hong Kong dollars is the price for one of Chen＊s hands, in Taiwan the going rate for someone＊s life is NT$3 million. At least that was the sum disgraced entertainer Hung Chi-te (粹む肅) offered the family of a woman he killed in Kenting in February while driving under the influence. This marks a steep decline of NT$5 million compared to the previous year when Shino Lin (輿?鑠) paid the family of the victim she ran over while wasted behind the wheel. Blame it on the global economic downturn.
Actor Ethan Ruan＊s (??毞) virile member has done rather better by him despite his own propensity to flaunt it about the gossip rags. The long running saga of his rumbustious sexual marathons with the mysterious ※Joanna§ and his on-again, off-again relationship with ※official§ girlfriend Tiffany Hsu (偝洱撣) did nothing to reduce his pulling power, and the soap opera To Love You Is My Destiny (韜笢蛁隅扂?斕) in which he stars continued to achieve stellar ratings.
Pop Stop has also shown a good deal of interest in two of 2008＊s most high-profile weddings. The first was that of Terry Gou (廖怢?), head of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (?漆儕躇), and dancer Delia Tseng (崠黹?), which took place in August. Delia is something of a step down from former Gou marriage prospects, which have included the queens of the Chinese-language entertainment industry such as Carina Lau (?樁鍍), Rosamund Kwan (燊眳轅), and supermodel Lin Chi-ling (輿祩鍍), but as Tseng is nicknamed Doggy (僩僩), she may well have qualities that even Next magazine has avoided speculating about.
Former Gou prospect Lau decided that good looks and charm beat a bulging pocket book and settled for heartthrob Tony Leung Chiu Wai (褽陳?). The couple were also married in August at a ceremony in Bhutan from which the press where rigorously kept at telephoto length.
Lau＊s best friend Faye Wong (卼滑) had less to celebrate this year. The Hong Kong media broke out into a rabid and somewhat tasteless frenzy when gossip rags reported in September that the pop chanteuse had miscarried what would have been her second child with husband Li Ya-peng (燠?齺). Some newspapers speculated that the 39-year-old Wong＊s ※advanced age§ might have contributed to the miscarriage or that it might actually have been an induced abortion after Wong＊s doctor discovered that the fetus had some sort of ※abnormality.§
Wong＊s manager Chen Jia-ying (?模踕), in a move no doubt designed to save her notoriously private client from more public mortification, hurriedly declared to the press that Wong＊s period had just been a little bit late. This was despite the fact that Chen herself had announced the pregnancy earlier.
The pregnancy-obsessed media also declared a bump watch on Cecilia Cheung, the aforementioned subject of Edison Chen＊s nude portraiture and wife of Wong＊s ex Nicholas Tse (珴鰝鄣). Rumors had also circulated that Cheung had suffered a miscarriage, but Sing Tao Daily News (陎???) speculated that Cheung might be knocked up again after one of their intrepid reporters spotted her in a convenience store loading up on five cups of noodles, three cans of some unspecified foodstuff, two boxes of chocolates and three big bags of potato chips. Perhaps Cheung was just seeking comfort food 〞 it must be tough when the entire world is your gynecologist (especially if they have Chen＊s photos for reference).
After a widely reported string of flings with mixed-race models last year, pop idol David Tao (枎?) garnered further attention from the tabloids when he fell off the wagon. After a bender at the uber-trendy Barcode lounge in Taipei＊s Xinyi District to celebrate the beginning of 2008, Tao＊s taxi driver dropped him off at a nearby police station because the sozzled star was unable to recall where he lived.
Tao became a little too friendly with the authorities, engaging in amiable antics such as high-fiving officers, making incessant small talk, and fawning over cops who just wanted the inebriated star to stand still. The lively display of drunkenness even included addressing the Next magazine paparazzo who had been called to record the silly scene as ※bro.§
Guatemalan-Taiwanese model Liz Yang (?獲佷), one of Tao＊s many rumored sweethearts, promptly claimed that they were ※just friends§ after the farcical episode.
Finally, this year＊s roundup would not be complete without mentioning the Beijing Olympics, which presented an ideal venue for A-listers to show off their patriotism. Entertainment big shots including Jackie Chan (傖?), Andy Lau (?肅?), Wang Lee-hom (卼薯粽) Kelly Chen (?雌轅) and Zhang Ziyi (梒赽禊) all expressed their support for China＊s authoritarian regime by bearing the Olympic torch (a ceremony invented by the Nazis for the 1936 Berlin Olympics to promote Aryan ideals) and singing songs with schmaltzy titles such as Beijing, Beijing, I Love Beijing (控儔ㄛ控儔ㄛ扂?控儔) at director Zhang Yimou＊s (??牾) less-than-creative closing ceremony.
On the evening of June 1, Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) apologized and resigned in disgrace. His crime was instructing his driver to use a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon. The Control Yuan is the government branch that investigates, audits and impeaches government officials for, among other things, misuse of government funds, so his misuse of a government vehicle was highly inappropriate. If this story were told to anyone living in the golden era of swaggering gangsters, flashy nouveau riche businessmen, and corrupt “black gold” politics of the 1980s and 1990s, they would have laughed.
This is a deeply unsettling period in Taiwan. Uncertainties are everywhere while everyone waits for a small army of other shoes to drop on nearly every front. During challenging times, interesting political changes can happen, yet all three major political parties are beset with scandals, strife and self-inflicted wounds. As the ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is held accountable for not only the challenges to the party, but also the nation. Taiwan is geopolitically and economically under threat. Domestically, the administration is under siege by the opposition-controlled legislature and growing discontent with what opponents characterize as arrogant, autocratic
When Lisa, 20, laces into her ultra-high heels for her shift at a strip club in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, she knows that aside from dancing, she will have to comfort traumatized soldiers. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion, exhausted troops are the main clientele of the Flash Dancers club in the center of the northeastern city, just 20 kilometers from Russian forces. For some customers, it provides an “escape” from the war, said Valerya Zavatska — a 25-year-old law graduate who runs the club with her mother, an ex-dancer. But many are not there just for the show. They “want to talk about what hurts,” she
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