Wang Lee-hom (王力宏) usually does a good job of keeping his private life out of the tabloids, but a wig and mysterious travel plans sparked rumors that he recently enjoyed a tropical getaway with actress Shu Qi (舒淇).
A reporter from the Liberty Times (our sister newspaper) saw Wang arriving at Taoyuan International Airport (桃園國際機場) sporting the fake tresses. On the same night, Shu was spotted flying into Hong Kong. Though there is no concrete proof that the two were vacationing together, intrepid netizens noted that their arrival times coincided with flights from Bali.
“After 10 years of disguising himself, this was the first time he failed,” commented the Liberty Times, referring to Wang’s ability to keep the press off his trail. While some of Wang’s fans mocked him on the Internet for his subterfuge, others were frothing at the mouth over the potential of a juicy new celebrity romance.
Photo: Taipei Times
“If it’s true, then announce it!” went one typical posting.
Rumors of a relationship have dogged the two ever since Shu appeared in one of Wang’s music videos five years ago. After shooting wrapped up, the two reportedly started seeing each other and the tabloids even said that they had been spotted in Tokyo department stores shopping for a diamond ring. Wang and Shu are said to have kept their alleged affair under wraps because his mother disapproves of the romance, but fans are now keeping their fingers crossed.
On Dec. 29, the Liberty Times received a tip-off from a reader about Wang and Shu’s arrivals in Taiwan and Hong Kong, respectively. A reporter rushed to Taoyuan and managed to intercept Wang, who was wearing his disguise and looked surprised to have been discovered. When asked if he had been in Bali with Shu Qi, Wang did not respond.
The two have refused to confirm or deny reports of their trip, but fans keeping an eagle eye on all their blog postings believe there is enough evidence. Shu insisted that she had planned to go skiing over the winter holidays, but readers figured out that a photo she posted online of herself enjoying the slopes was actually a year old. Some fans also believe that Wang convinced a blogger to post a snap of a “chance encounter” with the singer in Beijing. They argue that the jacket he is wearing in the photo would have provided scant protection against the Chinese capital’s frigid winter temperatures, and therefore the report is fake.
The Liberty Times speculated that the two spent their rumored Bali trip celebrating the critical success of Chinglish, a theatrical production by Chinese-American playwright David Henry Hwang (黃哲倫) that uses 11 of Wang’s songs. Time magazine placed it at number three in its list of last year’s top 10 Broadway shows. Wang’s music was also included in How Can I Live on Without You (如果沒有你) by Cloud Gate Theatre (雲門舞集).
Shu issued a statement chiding the press for making a big deal out of nothing. “This is not worth responding to,” she told reporters. Managers for both stars said that their agencies had been closed for the New Year’s weekend and were therefore unable to confirm or deny the rumors.
Wang’s love life has long been the focus of intense speculation. When the singer recently uploaded a photo to his blog that he snapped while recording a song, some fans mistook the background for a home studio. While some sighed with envy over Wang’s luxurious bachelor pad, others lamented how lonely he looked in the picture and called for Wang to find himself a wife right away. The singer’s management company quickly sent out a clarification that Wang was at Platinum Studios (白金錄音室).
Even though their bitter separation and divorce topped the headlines for months on end last year, Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒) and Cecilia Cheung (張柏芝) are now denying rumors that they are getting back together. Tse confirmed that he often sees his ex-wife, but explained that it was for the sake of their two small children. Tse and Cheung were recently spotted taking their oldest son Lucas to a feng shui master, but Tse wrote on his blog that they were just enjoying a family outing as parents. After spending a good part of last year duking it out over real estate holdings and custody arrangements, Tse said that he and Cheung “cooled down” after their divorce was finalized and are now open to being good friends — but no more than that.
From the last quarter of 2001, research shows that real housing prices nearly tripled (before a 2012 law to enforce housing price registration, researchers tracked a few large real estate firms to estimate housing price behavior). Incomes have not kept pace, though this has not yet led to defaults. Instead, an increasing chunk of household income goes to mortgage payments. This suggests that even if incomes grow, the mortgage squeeze will still make voters feel like their paychecks won’t stretch to cover expenses. The housing price rises in the last two decades are now driving higher rents. The rental market
Fifty-five years ago, a .25-caliber Beretta fired in the revolving door of New York’s Plaza Hotel set Taiwan on an unexpected path to democracy. As Chinese military incursions intensify today, a new documentary, When the Spring Rain Falls (春雨424), revisits that 1970 assassination attempt on then-vice premier Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國). Director Sylvia Feng (馮賢賢) raises the question Taiwan faces under existential threat: “How do we safeguard our fragile democracy and precious freedom?” ASSASSINATION After its retreat to Taiwan in 1949, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime under Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) imposed a ruthless military rule, crushing democratic aspirations and kidnapping dissidents from
It looks like a restaurant — but it’s food for the mind. Kaohsiung’s Pier-2 Art Center is currently hosting Comic Bento (漫畫便當店), an immersive and quirky exhibition that spotlights Taiwanese comic and animation artists. The entire show is designed like a playful bento shop, where books, plushies and installations are laid out like food offerings — with a much deeper cultural bite. Visitors first enter what looks like a self-service restaurant. Comics, toys and merchandise are displayed buffet-style in trays typically used for lunch servings. Posters on the walls present each comic as a nutritional label for the stories and an ingredient
Fundamentally, this Saturday’s recall vote on 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers is a democratic battle of wills between hardcore supporters of Taiwan sovereignty and the KMT incumbents’ core supporters. The recall campaigners have a key asset: clarity of purpose. Stripped to the core, their mission is to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). They understand a basic truth, the CCP is — in their own words — at war with Taiwan and Western democracies. Their “unrestricted warfare” campaign to undermine and destroy Taiwan from within is explicit, while simultaneously conducting rehearsals almost daily for invasion,