For Lin Shao-hua (林少華), the strenuous physical training over the last two months all became worthwhile when he was named first runner-up in the “Mister Physique” category in the annual 2008 Manhunt International last Monday.
Lin, a 25 year-old gym instructor from the Atayal tribe, was the third Taiwanese man to win a prestigious award at an international male beauty contest.
Lin said yesterday that when contenders from other countries first saw him, they often mistook him as Latin American because of his sculpted muscles and tanned skin.
PHOTO: HSIEH WEN-HUA, TAIPEI TIMES
“When I said I am from Taiwan, they often found it surprising,” Lin said, “because many foreigners still have the stereotype that Taiwanese male models are often tall, skinny and pale.”
Two months prior to the competition, Lin trained for three hours each day and maintained a strict high-protein low carbohydrate diet. To burn the extra fat off his body, Lin said he often did his jogging routine wearing heavy jackets and long pants so he would “sweat it out.”
Lin said he was able to shed 10kg using his self-designed regimen.
Manhunt International is the largest male-model beauty pageant in the world. The competition is made up of two phases. An online contest was held for voting on all contenders.
The top 15 winners from the online competition were then eligible to participate in the on-stage competition.
Lin did not get any votes at first, but won more than 23,900 votes and placed seventh after the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) reported on his endeavor to win the competition.
A senior at Yuan Ze University, Hsu Poh-hsiang (�?�), won the “best newcomer and best traditional costume” award in last year’s International Man Competition, and Hung Chi-feng (洪啟峰) of the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, clinched the “Most Popular” award in the 2008 Mr. Universe Model competition.
Hsu, however, refused to accept his award because organizers tried to force him to participate as “Mr. China” instead of “Mr. Republic of China.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
UNDER WAY: The contract for advanced sensor systems would be fulfilled in Florida, and is expected to be completed by June 2031, the Pentagon said Lockheed Martin has been given a contract involving foreign military sales to Taiwan to meet what Washington calls “an urgent operational need” of Taiwan’s air force, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The contract has a ceiling value of US$328.5 million, with US$157.3 million in foreign military sales funds obligated at the time of award, the Pentagon said in a statement. “This contract provides for the procurement and delivery of 55 Infrared Search and Track Legion Enhanced Sensor Pods, processors, pod containers and processor containers required to meet the urgent operational need of the Taiwan air force,” it said. The contract’s work would be
RSS