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.
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
Deliveries of delayed F-16V jets are expected to begin in September, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today, after senior defense officials visited the US last week. The US in 2019 approved a US$8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the nation’s F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, but the project has been hit by issues including software problems. Koo appeared today before a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which is discussing different versions of the special defense budget this week. The committee is questioning officials today,
RSS