Happily married celebrities seem to be something of a rarity these days. And those who are can rest assured that, sooner or later, the paparazzi will seek to prove otherwise. The latest case in point is Dee Hsu (徐熙娣), better known as Little S (小S). The 31-year-old star made the front page of the Apple Daily and other publications this week as the alleged victim of domestic violence in her five-year marriage with Mike Hsu (許雅鈞).
Citing “a source,” Apple said that Hsu’s household had been classified as “high-risk” by the Taipei City Center for Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault after a social worker investigated the star’s claims of abuse earlier this month.
Apple went on to speculate as to why Hsu’s marriage may be in trouble. One rather sexist theory the paper came up with is that her husband and in-laws are unhappy that she has failed to give birth to a male child. Another was that they’re embarrassed by Little S’ frequent teasing of male guests on the popular talk show Here Comes Kang and Xi (康熙來了) she co-hosts with Kevin Tsai (蔡康永).
The star and her husband emphatically condemned the report as a pure fabrication and said on Sunday they would file a lawsuit against the newspaper, though as of press time they have yet to do so. The Center for Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault issued a statement saying it had not conducted the abovementioned investigation.
Rumor has it that Jay Chou (周杰倫) and Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) are getting back together — only this time they’ll be doing it for money. The king and queen of Mando-pop met in January for an “ice-breaking” round of bowling, and according to media speculation Chou’s record company JVR Music (杰威爾音樂) is angling to sign Tsai after her contract with Warner Music (華納音樂) expires in July.
To prevent its cash cow from defecting to JVR, Warner is said to have offered Tsai NT$100 million to renew her contract.
Local entertainer Jiu Kong (九孔), real name Lu Kung-wei (呂孔維), has been the subject of an online kerfuffle between Chinese bloggers and Taiwanese bloggers for what people in China are calling his lackluster impersonation of Brother Sharp (犀利哥) on the popular television show The Largest Political Party (全民最大黨).
Brother Sharp is a homeless man in the city of Ningbo whose photo was posted on a Web site (bbs.fengniao.com/forum/1527056.html). Comments on the man’s good looks, modelesque bearing and stylish bohemian attire posted on the Tianya Web site last
month quickly made him a hot item in China. Netizens have been calling him the “Beggar Prince” (乞丐王子), “Supreme Vagabond” (極品乞丐) and, most frequently, Brother Sharp.
Different versions of the man’s life story have circulated on the Internet. According to some he is a former solider who has fallen on hard times. Others say he lost his mind after seeing his wife killed in a car accident. Those interested in Brother Sharp can check out his profile on Baidu (baike.baidu.com/view/1465055.htm), a Chinese online encyclopedia.
The canonical shot of an East Asian city is a night skyline studded with towering apartment and office buildings, bright with neon and plastic signage, a landscape of energy and modernity. Another classic image is the same city seen from above, in which identical apartment towers march across the city, spilling out over nearby geography, like stylized soldiers colonizing new territory in a board game. Densely populated dynamic conurbations of money, technological innovation and convenience, it is hard to see the cities of East Asia as what they truly are: necropolises. Why is this? The East Asian development model, with
June 16 to June 22 The following flyer appeared on the streets of Hsinchu on June 12, 1895: “Taipei has already fallen to the Japanese barbarians, who have brought great misery to our land and people. We heard that the Japanese occupiers will tax our gardens, our houses, our bodies, and even our chickens, dogs, cows and pigs. They wear their hair wild, carve their teeth, tattoo their foreheads, wear strange clothes and speak a strange language. How can we be ruled by such people?” Posted by civilian militia leader Wu Tang-hsing (吳湯興), it was a call to arms to retake
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
Desperate dads meet in car parks to exchange packets; exhausted parents slip it into their kids’ drinks; families wait months for prescriptions buy it “off label.” But is it worth the risk? “The first time I gave him a gummy, I thought, ‘Oh my God, have I killed him?’ He just passed out in front of the TV. That never happens.” Jen remembers giving her son, David, six, melatonin to help him sleep. She got them from a friend, a pediatrician who gave them to her own child. “It was sort of hilarious. She had half a tub of gummies,
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