The funniest thing to happen last week in the twisted world of Pop Stop was a case of stage diving that went horribly wrong.
Singer Fan Wei-qi (
Worried that she would not be able to walk again, the singer was carried off by organizers and taken to Mackay Memorial Hospital. Fortunately, it was not a serious cut and according to our sister paper the Liberty Times, Fan Fan was consoled by a phone call from her boyfriend, TV host Hei Ren (黑人), who was in Zimbabwe for a charity event.
All the local papers this week have covered the triumphant return of Jolin Tsai (
She dirty-danced with Stanley Huang (黃立行), writhing on top of him while he was prostrate on a couch. She then showed off her classical side by playing the harp (after two lessons). She even managed to turn on the waterworks when singing a song she is said to have written about her relationship with Chairman Chou (周董).
It loses something in translation, Pop Stop is told, but you get the idea: We smiled/ We didn't hide/ This is a pure admission/ We denied ourselves for each other/ No more/ We smiled/ Time stopped/ We cherished the moment and dropped the burden/ No more silence/ We learned but did not keep it.
There was a collective, "Ahhhhh!" from those in the know in Kaohsiung and for once Tsai was spared by the media from overt criticism of her singing and dancing. The only cheap shot came from the country's most popular tabloid, which commented on the star's G-cup breasts and noted they were sagging badly.
More tits for the lads popped out at MC HotDog's (熱狗) World Trade Center gig in the Xinyi district. The talented rapper was side-showed by his dancers when a bikini contest got out of hand. Twenty beach babes took to the stage wearing their itsy-bitsy-teeny-weenies and were encouraged to gyrate in a suggestive manner for the title of "Bikini Queen."
Whether it was a "wardrobe malfunction" a la Janet Jackson or she was just overexcited, a girl known only as "Sunny" ended up dancing topless. Comperes at the event rushed to cover up the girl's "missiles" (
Further investigation by news hounds, however, found that Sunny works in a Taipei bar and "entertains" businessmen for a living. No wonder she was so quick to get her kit off, opined newscasters on Era News (年代電視台). The police are now considering prosecuting the exotic dancer for public indecency and Sunny is said to be distraught by all the attention she has received -- which is ironic, for an exhibitionist.
Finally, TV entertainer Hu Gua (
Hu has obviously learned that it pays to blame the "dog pack" (狗材隊), or paparazzi, if you get caught with your trousers down. This did not help, however, when Hu was nabbed for taking part in a NT$15.2 million gambling sting. Despite his initial protestations of innocence he's currently awaiting sentencing.
Along with his brother he bilked friends and clients at the illegal mahjong casino he set up in a luxury Taipei apartment by installing a peephole camera. His former friends ratted him out when he refused to give back his ill-gotten gains and in May he was indicted for fraud.
With friends or family like Hu, who needs enemies?
June 2 to June 8 Taiwan’s woodcutters believe that if they see even one speck of red in their cooked rice, no matter how small, an accident is going to happen. Peng Chin-tian (彭錦田) swears that this has proven to be true at every stop during his decades-long career in the logging industry. Along with mining, timber harvesting was once considered the most dangerous profession in Taiwan. Not only were mishaps common during all stages of processing, it was difficult to transport the injured to get medical treatment. Many died during the arduous journey. Peng recounts some of his accidents in
“Why does Taiwan identity decline?”a group of researchers lead by University of Nevada political scientist Austin Wang (王宏恩) asked in a recent paper. After all, it is not difficult to explain the rise in Taiwanese identity after the early 1990s. But no model predicted its decline during the 2016-2018 period, they say. After testing various alternative explanations, Wang et al argue that the fall-off in Taiwanese identity during that period is related to voter hedging based on the performance of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Since the DPP is perceived as the guardian of Taiwan identity, when it performs well,
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