Top model Lin Chih-lin (林志玲) found herself in a pickle this week after Next Magazine found that she had not paid her National Health Insurance (NHI) dues in more than three years.
Lin had no plans, however, to launch a Taiwanese branch of America’s anti-healthcare reform Tea Party Patriots. The Liberty Times, our sister newspaper, reported that the leggy beauty quickly paid the NT$210,000 she owed. Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) sounded like he had had enough of the media ruckus when he
told the press that “she’s willing to admit that she made a careless oversight and she’s already given us the money.”
The magazine milked Lin’s payment in arrears for all it was worth, devoting four pages to the topic in last week’s issue. The article took a populist slant, writing that while this week’s NHI fee hike could potentially affect 3 million Taiwanese citizens, the monthly fee is mere pocket change for Lin, who reportedly makes more than NT$10 million per year. “A lot of wage earners are heartsick that their wallets will once again have to shed blood,” the gossip rag moaned, before adding “if everyone acted like Lin Chih-llin, the financial black hole would become larger and larger.”
Ironically, Lin was the target of flack five years ago for receiving “VIP treatment” at National Taiwan University Hospital after being thrown from a horse, even though she then paid only the minimum per month fee for NHI coverage. The ensuing ruckus led to several celebrities having their insurance fees raised by the Bureau of National Health Insurance, a provision nicknamed “the Lin Chih-lin clause”
(林志玲條款).
Last week was a banner week for Next in terms of unnamed sources. An anonymous reader, who was also the Department of Health’s source, brought Lin’s financial delinquency to Next’s attention. Another Deep Throat wannabe was the source of several text messages purportedly sent by actress Annie Yi (伊能靜) to her ex-husband Harlem Yu (庾澄慶), begging the singer-songwriter to take her back.
The duo’s marital discord was much publicized in 2009 before their divorce was finally announced in March last year, as was their custody battle for their young son, known in the press as Little Harry (小哈利).
The eight text messages, some of which Next gleefully splashed on its cover, have Yi allegedly groveling to Yu. “I was truly wrong, I hope that one day you’ll be able to forgive me,” one pleads. Next admitted that when it tried to trace the texts to their original online source, it discovered that the Web site had been taken down. Nonetheless, the magazine made a bit of effort to prove the veracity of the messages.
Though the ex-couple have adamantly denied the possibility of a reconciliation, Next insisted that the texts are genuine because they used Yi’s nickname for Yu: “Harry’s old pa” (哈老爸). Some were supposedly sent while Yi was vacationing in New York City (Yi allegedly assured her ex that she “had no night life” and was traveling with female companions only), while another referred to Yu’s recent trip abroad. “I saw that you are going to Bangladesh,” it read. “Be careful of your health and hygiene. Happy New Year!”
Rumors of a reunion started swirling in February, but Yi and Yu have yet to be seen in public together.
Hong Kong super hottie Andy Lau is happily married, but that hasn’t stopped the media from hounding him. Lau and long-time girlfriend Carol Chu (朱麗倩) denied being wed until the press uncovered an online record proving the two had gotten hitched in Nevada nearly two years ago. Since his “secret” marriage was uncovered earlier this year, media attention on the pair has only intensified.
Lau arrived in Taiwan to promote his latest film, Future X-Cops (未來警察), but reporters focused their questions on Lau’s home life and whether he intended to knock Chu up any time soon. One reporter asked if Lau felt any more carefree now that his marriage was out in the open.
Lau sighed, “the pressure has just gotten worse.”
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,
It is jarring how differently Taiwan’s politics is portrayed in the international press compared to the local Chinese-language press. Viewed from abroad, Taiwan is seen as a geopolitical hotspot, or “The Most Dangerous Place on Earth,” as the Economist once blazoned across their cover. Meanwhile, tasked with facing down those existential threats, Taiwan’s leaders are dying their hair pink. These include former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), among others. They are demonstrating what big fans they are of South Korean K-pop sensations Blackpink ahead of their concerts this weekend in Kaohsiung.
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
RSS