In fairy tales, prince and princess live happily ever after. In real life, the happy days rarely last a lifetime, and in the case of Winston Wang Junior (王泉仁) and Lee Ching-ching (李晶晶), they last about a year and a half.
Next Magazine dropped a bombshell this week when it reported that Wang Junior, the son of tycoon Winston Wang (王文洋), and Lee, a transportation fortune heiress, have separated after 18 months of marriage. The husband is reported to have insisted on a divorce one week after the couple celebrated their baby daughter’s first birthday in June.
Devoted celebrity gossip fans might recall the couple’s nuptials in January last year. The sumptuous ceremony was dubbed “the wedding of the century” by local media as it signaled the union of the empires of Formosa Plastics (台灣塑膠公司) and Capital Bus (首都客運).
Photo: Taipei Times
According to Next Magazine, the reasons for the couple’s split-up are predictable: Both husband and wife are spoiled rich kids, so they refuse to make concessions when disagreements arise and sometimes resort to outbursts of anger. The report also attributes the separation to Wang Junior’s “decisive” temperament when it comes to handling relationships, noting that he and Lee held a lavish engagement party only one month after he dumped model Kelly Po (柏妍安) in 2008.
The reportedly estranged husband and wife have yet to respond to the news.
On a more upbeat note, Mando-pop man-of-war Jay Chou (周杰倫) may face fewer public sneers after his rumored girlfriend Hannah Quinlivan (昆淩) finally celebrated her 18th birthday on Friday last week. Tagged by the press as “the tenderest mixed-blood J-girl” (最嫩混血J女郎) — “J-girl” refers to female stars who have been romantically linked to Chou — the model of Taiwanese and Australian parentage has been hailed as the Chairman’s sweetheart since she was spotted leaving a party at Primo nightclub in Chou’s car in January.
The most up-to-date evidence of the two dating comes from Apple Daily, which reported on Sunday that one of its sources saw the couple strolling the streets of Paris last week. With Quinlivan publicly wishing to spend her birthday in Europe, the pomaceous gossipmonger reckoned the trip was Chou’s birthday gift to his younger girlfriend.
To the delight of local gossip media, Chou never directly denies dating Quinlivan, saying coyly that “I will admit it if you have photographs.”
Also, the 32-year-old Chou’s recent statement about how his mental age makes him more suitable for 18-year-old girls has been taken by gossip journos as confirmation of his rumored cradle-robbery.
The Chairman may be able to learn a lesson or two from senior entertainer Frankie Kao (高凌風). An infamous lothario during his youthful days, the 61-year-old Kao is now trying to win back the heart of 40-year-old wife Chin Yu-chuang (金友莊) after she was rumored to have had an extramarital affair with divorced businessman Chang Chih-chien (張志堅). Chin and Chang were spotted having an intimate moment in a car on Lover’s Day (七夕, aka Chinese Valentine’s Day) earlier this month.
When the news broke, Chin went into hiding for eight days in Kaohsiung. She returned to Taipei on Tuesday and denied having an affair with Chang, but said that her 16-year marriage to Kao has not been a smooth ride.
“He is quite demanding and a male chauvinist,” Chin was quoted as saying. “I’m running out of patience. All I ask for is the right to equality.”
In an attempt to persuade his wife to stay, the former lady’s man has listed eight “wife-loving rules” (愛妻守則) that he promises to follow, including gems like: “Don’t boss others around”; “Don’t think of myself as the most important person in the world”; “Don’t make the wife do things she doesn’t like”; and “The wife is at liberty to hang out with friends.”
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
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