Taiwanese entertainer Da Bing’s (大炳) bad habits have caught up with him. Again. Readers of Pop Stop will recall that the cross-dressing performer, whose real name is Yu Bing-hsian (余炳賢) and goes by the English name Tony Fish, was arrested in 2007 for using amphetamines, which resulted in 50 days of rehab.
Things were beginning to look up when he became a poster boy for Taiwan’s anti-drug movement (反毒運動). But signs that Da Bing was returning to his old ways were on show earlier this year when he and his brother, Xiao Bing (小炳), were involved in a drunk driving accident. For Taiwan’s media, however, that was small potatoes.
Last weekend it all went downhill for the 33-year-old actor when he was busted with amphetamines, according to reports in the Apple Daily and Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper).
The papers said police, apparently responding to a noise complaint, found him in a hotel room barely dressed in a towel and allegedly watching a porno. The police said Da Bing was trying to hide a bag of amphetamine when they entered the room.
To make matters worse, he was found alongside Huang Chin-lung (黃金龍), a somewhat shady character who has a criminal record that includes drug and gun possession and assault charges.
At a press conference held the following day, Da Bing, tears streaming down his face, admitted to using the drug and begged forgiveness. The hoard of assembled media, characteristically unsympathetic, asked him if he thought anyone in the entertainment industry would ever work with him again. Unsurprisingly, he declined to respond.
The moralizing continued over the weekend and reached a climax when Da Bing’s agent, Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳), said if the allegations prove true, “I will probably break his contract,” because he would be a poor role model and has hurt those who are close to him. Pouring salt on his wounds, Chang Hsiao-yen (張小燕), the so-called godmother of television, said Da Bing needed to see a psychiatrist.
Meanwhile, feng shui master Tsai Shang-chi (蔡上機) weighed in and said the disgraced performer’s bad luck could be attributed to his face, according to a report in Apple. Drawing on his years of geomantic experience, Tsai determined that Da Bing never cherished his good luck and wasted it through drug use.
Meanwhile, according to reports from China, it looks like Taiwan’s top supermodel, Lin Chih-ling (林志玲), will marry Scott Qiu (邱士楷), Taiwan’s “Toilet Prince” (馬桶王子), a moniker he acquired because of his position as heir to HCG Corporation (和成集團), a bathroom equipment company that specializes in commodes.
The rumor stems from an interview Qiu allegedly gave to Hunan Satellite Television (湖南衛視), in which he said the couple plan to marry in the second half of this year.
The Liberty Times, however, questioned the report and said gossip from the Chinese paparazzi is notoriously, er, unreliable (unlike, of course, the eminently reliable gossip published in Taiwan).
For her part, Lin scotched the rumor at the Hong Kong Film Awards (香港電影金像獎) held on Sunday, where she was hoping to pick up a gong for best new act, when she said she has no plans to marry this year and hasn’t been in contact with Qiu recently.
“This has been a rumor for five years. You’d think [the media] would come up with something more creative,” she said.
And finally, a man surnamed Lin (林) told the Apple Daily that he and Chang Hui-mei (張惠妹), better known as pop diva A-mei, have an 18-year daughter together. He also said that they were married. Upon further questioning by reporters, however, he was unable to provide any proof. Perhaps he should send his resume to the Chinese entertainment press.
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.
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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
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