Despite allegations of trying to avoid mandatory military service by delaying graduation from university, actor and singer Ming Dao (明道) recently attended the enrollment session held by Chungyu Institute of Technology and was accepted.
Ming Dao has repeatedly caused controversy as he has been a college student for 11 years and has changed schools four times during that period. Chungyu is the fifth school he is to attend.
According to sources, the school did not recognize Ming Dao as he used his real name, Lin Chao-chang (林朝章), to apply for the test, only realizing later after he received his test admission ticket.
Chungyu secretary-general Lin Shu-cheng (林書正) said that as Ming Dao was eligible for the entrance test, Chungyu could not say no.
Ming Dao has been criticized by the vice principal of Tungnan University, his former school. The vice principal, Lee Ching-yin (李清吟), said Lin was only using schools as a way to delay his mandatory military service, adding that in the two-and-a-half years Lin was enrolled at Tungnan, he only completed six out of the 37 elective credits and was 74 credits away from graduation.
Ming Dao is not setting a good example for college students or other youths who want to go into show business, Lee added.
Ming Dao now holds the title of the oldest college student in show business. He took the title from Bobby Dou (竇智孔), a college student for 12 years, who entered military service at the beginning of the year.
Twenty-eight-year-old Mike Ho (賀軍翔), 29 year-old Ethan Ruan (阮經天) and Joseph Cheng (鄭元暢) are close behind, each having been in college for eight years.
All three had given tentative schedules for serving their military service in April, with Ruan saying he would report for service after finishing the two movies he is currently shooting.
Cheng said he would serve his term in the military with a more settled mind after he has helped his family pay off a loan. Ha has also said he would begin his service within two years.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man