An music video dramatizing a group of schoolgirls bullying another girl has sparked an outcry from a Taipei-based girls’ high school, who said its school uniform is used in the film clip.
The music video, for singer Starr Chen’s (陳星翰) single Ego-Holic featuring singer Jolin Tsai (蔡依林), shows a group of school girls beating an obese student. All the girls are shown wearing what the school says are Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls’ High School uniforms.
The Association of Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls’ High School Teachers has demanded an apology from the music video’s producer.
It also called on faculty members, students and alumni to report the offending video on social media for inappropriate and libelous content.
“The honor of an organization does not hinge on its uniform. I guarantee that there is absolutely no chance that your respected school’s reputation could be harmed by a single piece of visual media,” Chen said yesterday on Facebook.
The production team said it hopes people pay more attention to the message against bullying, rather than references to a specific school, Chen said.
A new version of the video that blurs the school’s name on the characters’ uniforms is to be released to replace the original, Chen said.
“Bullying is not good, but it was very common at my school and in my class. My intention is to raise public awareness about the things that are happening around us and to make people value themselves and love themselves. No defamation or malice was intended toward the school and I am sorry that my former classmates felt hurt or offended,” Video director Hsieh Yu-en (謝宇恩) said on Facebook.
However, in an official statement issued yesterday, the school said it has a 119-year history of promoting excellence and leadership for Taiwanese women and that the video’s portrayal of violence and bullying on its campus is slanderous and inappropriate.
Zhongshan Girls’ High School is a place of education and the staff are vigilant about bullying, the school said, adding that excessive violence has “negative effects on society.”
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
RSS