Veteran Taiwanese actress Yang Li-yin (楊麗音) and new talent Gaku Sou (莊岳) won supporting accolades at the latest edition of the annual Asian Television Awards (ATA) in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday evening.
Yang and Gaku Sou won for their roles in different series produced by Da Ai TV, which is run by the Taiwan-based Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation.
Yang added the ATA’s “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” award to her many accolades — which include trophies from Taiwan’s Golden Bell Awards and Golden Harvest Awards on top of nominations at prestigious competitions such as the Golden Horse Awards — for her performance in the Da Ai biopic Way Back Home (早點回家).
Photo courtesy of Da Ai TV
In addition to Yang, four other Taiwanese actresses were among the eight nominees in the category.
In the end, it was Yang’s take on the main character’s grandmother that won over the ATA jury.
Although she was unable to claim the award in person, Yang thanked the judges for their
recognition of her performance in a prerecorded message.
Meanwhile, Gaku Sou appeared in person at Saturday’s ceremony to pick up the ATA’s “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” award for his performance in On Our Way (搜尋者), a television drama centered around the daily lives of Tzu Chi volunteers.
After thanking his parents and the show’s director, the young actor also remarked that he was mesmerized at being in the same room with so many of the famous Asian stars he had grown up watching on the small screen.
Speaking with the press
following the presentation, Gaku Sou said it was his first nomination for On Our Way, as well as his first time visiting Ho Chi Minh City.
He praised the Da Ai production team for creating a warm and embracing filming environment.
The 28th ATA were held in the Vietnamese city from Friday to Saturday, with awards on the first day given out for news and technical achievements in Asia’s television industry, while Saturday’s event showcased awards for dramas, actors and television hosts.
Over two days, 58 awards were presented to participants, almost 30 of which involved a Taiwanese individual or team.
For example, while the honor for “Best Actor in a Leading Role” at this year’s ATA was won by Malaysian actor Frederick Lee (李銘忠), the performance for which he won the award was in the Taiwan-produced Taiwan Crime Stories — A Matter of Life & Death (台灣犯罪故事-生死困局).
Lee’s counterpart, Taiwanese actress Tiffany Ann Hsu (許瑋甯), also represented Taiwan in vying for the best leading actress award for her performance in Lesson in Love (第9節課) but lost out to Thailand’s Tontawan Tantivejakul.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
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
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
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