The media has long been intrigued over the possibility of a rekindled romance between the nation’s most famous heartthrob, Jerry Yan (言承旭), and its top female supermodel, Lin Chi-ling (林志玲).
Yan supposedly never got over Lin after they first broke up. Lin is said to have broken up with a previous suitor, Scott Chiu (邱士楷), the son of a toilet magnate, and has hinted to reporters that she still has a soft spot for Yan.
And now, recent comments by Lin’s father, Lin Fan-nan (林繁男), are fanning the flames once again. Interviewed by reporters at a charity auction, the elder Lin praised Yan as “the light of Taiwan” (台灣之光), referring to the actor/model’s popularity in Japan, which was underlined earlier this week when 8,000 fans in Tokyo showed up for a public stadium appearance by Yan.
Photo: Taipei Times
The Apple Daily asked if the elder Lin’s words could be taken as an endorsement — wouldn’t “the light of Taiwan” and Taiwan’s number one model make a perfect married couple?
But his answer was vague and circumspect. “You can’t talk about marriage just for the sake of it,” he said. “A wedding is a major event. The more friends you can make, the better.”
Yan and Lin Chih-ling do share one thing in common these days: they’re both getting big in Japan.
Lin, who is trying to jumpstart her acting career, reprised her role in John Woo’s Red Cliff (赤壁) for a Japanese-language stage production of the film, and has also been a growing presence in Japanese fashion advertising. As for Yan, he continues to milk the fame earned from his role 11 years ago in the TV drama Meteor Garden (流星花園). His appearance at the aforementioned event in Tokyo earned him a cool NT$25 million.
One actor that will not be raking in the cash this year is Ethan Ruan (阮經天). The 29-year-old star of the hit gangster movie Monga (艋舺) has started his compulsory military service, foregoing his normal NT$20 million in yearly earnings for the serviceman’s salary of NT$9,955 a month.
On Tuesday, Ruan, who completed basic training in Taichung last month, started at his post in New Taipei City, where he is serving as an office staffer for the New Taipei City Government’s Education Bureau. And naturally, the media were out in full force to document Ruan’s first day on the job.
As our sister paper, the Liberty Times put it, an “entourage comparable to that of the New Taipei City mayor” greeted Ruan outside his Taipei apartment as he got into a taxi en route to the bureau’s offices in Banciao.
Donning the standard uniform of a blue windbreaker, blue hat and blue slacks, Ruan only looked “half as handsome” as he normally does, the Liberty Times report noted.
Ruan adopted a serious tone when reporters cornered him during a free moment in Banciao. When asked how he would react if he ran into fans at the Education Bureau, Ruan replied, “For this one year, my work is to be a serviceman. If I run into fans, I will still concentrate on my work.”
That might be tough until the novelty of having a movie star working in a government office wears off. The Apple Daily reports that female bureau workers have been receiving requests from their friends to get Ruan’s autograph, while other office staff have taken the opportunity to have their photos taken with him (a request he obliged happily, says the Apple Daily).
Even his fellow conscripts find Ruan’s presence a bit surreal — one serviceman was quoted as saying that having conversations with Ruan “is like a dream, it’s a little weird.”
Although it looks like Ruan’s duties at the bureau will be mostly pen-pushing and making copies, one military staffer at the bureau said they are hoping he will agree to participate in anti-drug and anti-bullying campaigns in schools.
He will certainly have to be a good boy during the work week. A typical day’s work schedule for Ruan runs from 8am to 5:30pm with an hour and a half off for lunch. He then has an hour off for dinner before he has to check in at his dormitory in Banciao. According to the Apple Daily, he and his fellow conscripts are restricted from going to nightclubs and bars during the weekdays. But it’s a far cry from life in a prison: they are free to go home on the weekends.
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