News of the sudden death of “King of Pop” Michael Jackson rippled through the nation yesterday, leaving many in the local music community distraught and nostalgic over his many hits.
Yu Guang (余光), a veteran music program host and concert agent, said he was very sad and confused over the pop star's sudden death at the age of 50.
Yu, who invited Jackson to Taiwan in September 1993 for a concert, the third stop in the pop icon's "Dangerous" concert tour around Asia, said the Michael Jackson he knew was simple, pure and had a childlike innocence.
Jackson also loved and was single-mindedly devoted to music, Yu said.
Wu Chien-heng (吳建恆), a well known Taipei DJ, said he had been a Jackson fan since high school and loved to mimic Jackon's signature “Moonwalk.”
Wu said Jackson's "Thriller" in 1982 opened the door for him to Western pop music, but he picked Jackson's 1991 hit "Black or White" as his favorite.
“It was a great song with a global perspective and compassion,” Wu said.
Wu said many pop icons had visited Taiwan and given concerts over the years, but none have been on a par with Jackson, who raised the standards of music and performance to new heights.
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said