Taiwanese bestselling writer and film director Giddens Ko (柯景騰), also known as Jiu Ba-dao (九把刀), admitted yesterday that he cheated on his girlfriend, after he was photographed entering a motel with another woman.
“In the world of love, I am not a good man. I am terrible,” Ko said at a press conference after Chinese-language Next Magazine yesterday published the pictures of him and the female, a local TV station reporter.
Ko said he had apologized to his girlfriend, but had not been forgiven.
However, Ko also expressed grievances, saying he felt awkward having to explain his private life to the public because he had been followed by paparazzi.
However, such embarrassment might be what he deserves because of his infidelity, he said.
“I feel pained and awful,” he added.
The 36-year-old is best known for his novel You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年,我們ㄧ起追的女孩).
In 2011, a movie based on the book became a blockbuster in Taiwan, while in Hong Kong it surpassed the 2004 Hong Kong film Kung Fu Hustle (功夫) to become the highest-grossing Chinese-language movie in the territory’s history.
In June, popular Taiwanese cartoonist “Wan Wan” (彎彎), who had a guest role in You Are the Apple of My Eye, also issued a public apology after an extramarital affair was revealed by Next Magazine, which published photographs of her kissing and embracing a fellow blogger, Huang Chien-ming (黃建銘).
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
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