One secret marriage led to another for Hong Kong heartthrob Andy Lau (劉德華).
After the news broke last Saturday of his under-the-radar Las Vegas wedding to long-rumored sweetheart Carol Choo (朱麗倩) in June, Lau admitted to having signed a nuptial agreement/marriage contract (結婚證書) with Taiwanese actress Yu Ke-hsin (喻可欣) back in the 1980s.
The agreement, however, is not legally binding as the marriage was neither officially registered nor was it celebrated publicly. But that hasn’t stopped Yu’s mother, referred to as “Mama Yu” in the Chinese-language press, from reminiscing about those glory days in public this week. She said Lau and her daughter signed the agreement on New Year’s Eve in 1985, when the pair were head over heels in love. While her daughter still has the document, Mama Yu says it merely serves as a memento of a past romance.
The revelations are just another headache for Lau, who is currently being branded as a “liar” by the Hong Kong media. He faced reporters at Hong Kong airport earlier this week, asking for “forgiveness” and apologizing for concealing his marriage to Chu. Lau vehemently denied having any children, a rumor that has dogged him for years.
Perhaps the media fuss over Lau has scared actor/singer Leon Lee (黎明) and supermodel Gaile Lai (樂基兒) into divulging the details of their own marriage. The Apple Daily in Hong Kong reported that the couple got married last year, also in Las Vegas. The 28-year-old Lai broke the news at a public appearance in Hong Kong, telling the paper: “Yes, we have already gotten married. I admit it. But the people close to us already know.”
Comedian Chu Ko Liang (豬哥亮) enjoyed a running start with his comeback show on Formosa TV (FTV, 民視), Chu Ko Hui She (豬哥會社), which started at the end of July. But the highly anticipated variety program has already begun to lose some of its luster. The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) reports that some fans are less than thrilled with Chu Ko Liang’s co-host, Rene Hou (侯怡君), who has been criticized on Internet discussion boards as just “another pretty face.” Meanwhile, the Apple Daily quoted AGB Nielsen figures showing that the show’s viewership dropped by nearly 1.4 million over three episodes to an average of 3.08 million viewers.
While Chu Ko Liang is wisely maintaining a poker face about his ratings, Mando-pop star David Tao (陶吉吉) has been twittering his thoughts about Taiwan’s fickle pop charts, which got him in a little hot water. The 39-year-old singer-songwriter’s sixth album, David Tao 69 (六 九樂章), hit No. 1 on Five Music’s charts for the final week of last month, but only No. 3 on G-Music’s.
This seemed a little fishy to Tao, who offered his Twitter followers some market analysis and “speculation”: Five Music’s charts are based on sales in nine stores across the island, while G-Music’s charts are based on sales in 31 stores, which include major chains Rose Records (玫瑰唱片) and Tachung Records (大眾唱片). With more stores, Tao said, G-Music is more susceptible to chart-rigging or “buying the charts” (買榜), where companies inflate sales by purchasing records by their own artists.
“I’m not saying there are people rigging this chart, or that the chart is unfair, but I just think we need to use a little common sense,” he tweeted. “This way we see the whole picture, which is a little suspicious ...”
Fans of A-mei (張惠妹), whose latest album A-mit (阿密特) was No. 1 on G-Music’s charts, were not amused. On an Internet discussion board of A-mei and Tao’s record label, Gold Typhoon (金牌大風), posters accused Tao of being a “sore loser,” reports the Liberty Times.
This prompted a response from Tao, this time through Gold Typhoon: “I didn’t direct my comments at an artist or album in particular,” he said. “I just wanted to discuss one thing — my concern for the health of the [pop music] environment and to let consumers better understand the truth of all parts of the business. Please don’t misunderstand.”
And to conclude, some lighter fare. Singer Jolin Tsai (蔡依林), who seems to change diets as often as her wardrobe, has finally settled on the “right” nutritionist, according to the Apple Daily. After years of cooking without oil, cutting out starch and meat and eating only bland foods, Tsai’s latest regimen is, lo and behold, a regular balanced diet. She now eats almost everything except for eggs, and fruit only before 4pm. Common sense prevails.
The Taipei Times last week reported that the rising share of seniors in the population is reshaping the nation’s housing markets. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, about 850,000 residences were occupied by elderly people in the first quarter, including 655,000 that housed only one resident. H&B Realty chief researcher Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨), quoted in the article, said that there is rising demand for elderly-friendly housing, including units with elevators, barrier-free layouts and proximity to healthcare services. Hsu and others cited in the article highlighted the changing family residential dynamics, as children no longer live with parents,
Oct 20 to Oct 26 After a day of fighting, the Japanese Army’s Second Division was resting when a curious delegation of two Scotsmen and 19 Taiwanese approached their camp. It was Oct. 20, 1895, and the troops had reached Taiye Village (太爺庄) in today’s Hunei District (湖內), Kaohsiung, just 10km away from their final target of Tainan. Led by Presbyterian missionaries Thomas Barclay and Duncan Ferguson, the group informed the Japanese that resistance leader Liu Yung-fu (劉永福) had fled to China the previous night, leaving his Black Flag Army fighters behind and the city in chaos. On behalf of the
I was 10 when I read an article in the local paper about the Air Guitar World Championships, which take place every year in my home town of Oulu, Finland. My parents had helped out at the very first contest back in 1996 — my mum gave out fliers, my dad sorted the music. Since then, national championships have been held all across the world, with the winners assembling in Oulu every summer. At the time, I asked my parents if I could compete. At first they were hesitant; the event was in a bar, and there would be a lot
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