Friends and family yesterday bid farewell to entertainer Hsieh Hsin-ta (謝新達), better known as Chu Ko Liang (豬哥亮), who brought laughter to many with his coarse humor and slapstick.
About 2,000 fans, friends and entertainers, including Chang Fei (張菲) and actress Amber Kuo (郭采潔), paid tribute to the entertainer at his funeral — which cost an estimated NT$5 million (US$164,468) — in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋) yesterday.
Hsieh, a presenter, singer and actor, died on May 15 of liver failure induced by cancer. He was 70.
Photo: Chung Chih-kai, Taipei Times
His eldest son, Hsieh Shun-fu (謝順福), said the funeral was meant to be a festive occasion, because his father “wanted everyone to be happy.”
A memorial video depicting the life of the entertainer was aired at the start of the service, which opened with his words prefacing his song A Performance (一場、一場表演).
The video showed family members, including his daughter Jeannie Hsieh (謝金燕), a popular pop singer, and the reconciliation between father and daughter at his hospital bed.
There was also a clip showing several of his children, including Jeannie Hsieh, attending Hsieh Hsin-ta’s wedding with his third wife, signaling that family members had put a longstanding feud behind them.
There were also blessings from many of his best friends, including celebrity couple Yu Tien (余天) and Lee Ya-ping (李亞萍), as well as movie director Chu Yen-ping (朱延平).
More than a dozen old songs favored by the entertainer, including By Tamsui Riverside (淡水河邊), were played by a band at the service, which featured white and gold colors.
Despite the celebratory mood, Hsieh Shun-fu was in tears when he expressed his appreciation to those in attendance and asked: “Daddy, are you happy to see all your friends here?”
Hsieh Shun-fu was born from Hsieh Hsin-ta ’s first marriage. He had two sons and three daughters from his three marriages, and another daughter out of wedlock.
Chu Ko Liang was a household name, but struggled throughout his life with a gambling addiction.
At one point he amassed gambling debts reported to be NT$1 billion that forced him into hiding for 15 years until 2010.
He was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2014, but rejected treatment so he could continue to make movies and work on other projects.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview. “Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that,” Hsiao told American podcaster Shawn Ryan of the Shawn Ryan Show. She was referring to a timeline cited by several US military and intelligence officials, who said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take military action against Taiwan