Singer-songwriter Siri Lee (李竺芯) bagged the coveted Album of the Year award at the 36th Golden Melody Awards (GMA) on Saturday with her Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese) album Sui (水), a feat not seen since 1999.
“The concept of this album is a physical, psychological and spiritual adventure of women’s self-exploration,” Lee said.
However, the album is dedicated to everyone, she said, adding that it aims to encourage people to break free from society or self-imposed stereotypes.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Its title means “beautiful” or “nicely done” in Hoklo. The songs had several plays on words, with Lee delivering Hoklo lyrics that were homophonous with French and Italian phrases.
The album showcases her versatility as a singer in a range of music styles, including Japanese enka and French chanson.
The last Hoklo album to win the award was Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird (樹枝孤鳥) by rocker Wubai (伍佰), and his band, China Blue, in 1999.
Photo: Billy Dai, AP
Sui also won best Taiwanese album and Lee was named Best Female Taiwanese singer.
Meanwhile, AAA, a collaborative album by Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster (落日飛車) and South Korean band Hyukoh, also took home three awards: Best Vocal Album Recording, Best Album Design and Best Music Video for the song Antenna.
Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was posthumously awarded the jury award for his The Dreamer (夢想家) album. His friend and mixing engineer Eric Lau accepted the award on his behalf.
Photo: Billy Dai, AP
The Dreamer was mostly recorded by Fong at home while he was in poor health, capturing his reflections on life.
Singer-songwriter Waa Wei (魏如萱) bagged the Best Female Mandarin Singer award, while Lu Shih-hsuan (呂士軒), also known as Trout Fresh, won Best Male Mandarin Singer and Best Mandarin Album with his album Good Sound With Attitudes (好聲豪氣).
The Best New Artist award went to rapper “someshiit” (山姆), whose real name is Hsueh Jung-hsuan (薛融暄), for his album A Fool (愚公).
Duo Power Station (動力火車) clinched their second GMA win, getting the Best Vocal Group award with their Always With You (Deluxe Edition) (「結伴」豪華版) album.
Weng Xiao-liang (翁孝良), a renowned figure in the Taiwanese music industry, and late singer-songwriter Ma Chao-chun (馬兆駿) were honored with the Special Contribution Award.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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