Jordan Yeoh's Abs Circuit Workout

 

Source: Jordan Yeoh's Facebook

Jay Chou Concert Postponed

 

Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou's Carnival World Tour — Kuala Lumpur has been postponed indefinitely.

In a post via its official Facebook page, TicketCharge said the concert that was slated for January 16 next year at Bukit Jalil National Stadium will be rescheduled following government regulations and travel restrictions.

It stated that the new date will be announced in early January 2021.

The concert was originally scheduled for February 29 but was later pushed to August due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Responding to queries from fans, the company said refund details will be updated early next month.

Carnival World Tour is Chou's eighth concert tour to celebrate the multi award-winning singer’s 20 years in the music business.

Chou last performed in Malaysia in January 2018, before returning again in October to accompany his wife Hannah Quinlivan, who was shooting a movie on location here.

Source: MSN

Bruce Lee - Idol or Villain

Nearly 50 years 

after his death

, Bruce Lee remains not only Hong Kong but Asian cinema’s biggest icon. That’s quite a feat given the subsequent rise of other martial arts stars like Jackie Chan and Jet Li, Japanese and Korean idols like Takuya Kimura and Jun Ji-hyun, and award-winning directors like 

Wong Kar-wai

, 

Ang Lee

 and Bong Joon-ho.

Even today people are 

intensely passionate about preserving Lee’s legacy

. Just last year a storm erupted when Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, featured a portrayal of Lee that showed him as arrogant and which exploited his legend to put over what a tough guy Cliff Booth, Brad Pitt’s character, is.

Earlier this year Shannon Lee, Bruce’s daughter, talked to the South China Morning Post about the film and discussed the pain that Tarantino’s characterisation of her father caused.

“My feeling is the same. I was very disappointed,” Lee said. “I’m not going to say I wasn’t angry at all, but certainly sitting in the movie theatre and having that experience with an audience was not a fun experience for me.

“I was very disappointed to see Quentin Tarantino’s response, which was to continue to say, ‘Oh, Bruce Lee was arrogant, he was an asshole’, and to incorrectly cite my mother’s book as a defence. I really thought it was irresponsible of him to do what he did and have that portrayal.”

Tarantino received widespread criticism for his depiction of Lee – not just from family members like Shannon Lee, but fans across the world. It’s not hard to understand why. For decades Lee has been heralded as an icon. He did untold good in breaking down barriers for Asians in America.

When Lee started working in Hollywood in the 60s, it was normal for Caucasians to play Asian characters – this was the same decade, remember, when Mickey Rooney played the racist caricature that was Mr Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Lee came along and changed that. Suddenly, an Asian character like Kato, in The Green Hornet, could actually be played by an Asian actor. In an era where white folk were always the hero and people of colour were often the first to die in Hollywood films, Bruce Lee stood tall, not only surviving but saving the day along the way. When Lee defeats Chuck Norris in the Coliseum at the climax of The Way of the Dragon, he represented all people of colour still fighting wars against Western imperialism.

Given the hagiographic nature of much of the coverage surrounding Lee, I was surprised to come across a work that suggested there might be negatives to Lee’s legend. The work in question was Paul Bowman’s scholarly text Theorizing Bruce Lee: Film-Fantasy-Fighting-Philosophy.

“What is Bruce Lee?” the author asked. “One answer might be: a trivial and trivialising, violent, masculinist, Orientalist stereotype; a mythologized commodification of alterity packaged for a fetishistic Western gaze; the mythological reduction of ethnicity into posters, T-shirts, nerds’ film collections; one which provided bullies, show-offs, fighters and fantasists the world over with an entire new lexicon of moves and stances for posturing, parading and pugilism … The sort of thing you might want to keep very far away from kids.”

Viewed this way, Lee – or at least the cult surrounding him – could be summed up as: “Trivial, nerdy, fetishistic, violent, Orientalist, exploitative, and typifying the Western impetus to appropriation.”

As a member of the dominant Western, white, male culture that has done much to package Lee’s legacy for its own ends, I wouldn’t want to pass judgment on Lee or these accusations that not even Bowman suggests he actually believes.

Nonetheless, it’s worth considering these points. Was Lee too successful as an icon of martial arts and a modern day Confucius? Could that be one reason why it has taken Asian actors so many years to be seen as anything except masters of kung fu or mystic sages? Could something like Last Christmas, where 

Asian actor Henry Golding was the romantic interest

 for Emilia Clarke, have come along sooner if Lee, through his brilliance, had not set a particular image of Asian males in the minds of Western directors?

I highly doubt Lee did more bad than good – and much of his legacy was fixed after his passing anyway. Whatever the reasons, here’s hoping that the West continues to reappraise its use and portrayal of Asians in cinema, as it has only recently and belatedly begun to do.

Source: SCMP

Eason Chan Is The Most Streamed Artist on Spotify

Canto-pop singer Eason Chan Yik-shun was the most-streamed artist in Hong Kong for the fifth consecutive year, streaming service Spotify revealed this week.

Taiwanese singer-songwriter Jay Chou was second, K-pop giants 

BTS

 were third, US singer-songwriter 

Taylor Swift

 was fourth and in fifth place was Hong Kong singer-songwriter Hins Cheung. Cheung’s album Zhang Jingxuan, It’s Time was the most-streamed album in the city this year.

Jin Shares Sadness Through New Song

Ahead of his 28th birthday on Friday, BTS member Jin shared a surprise with the world on Thursday night when he released the song Abyss, a meaningful tune about his relationship with his art.

Jin wrote Abyss alongside Bumzu – a producer who frequently works with boy band Seventeen – as well as with fellow BTS member RM and long-time collaborator Pdogg.

When he shared the song on the BTS’ Twitter page, he linked to both SoundCloud and a blog post in which he shares his thoughts on the sweet, reflective ballad.

In a letter to 

BTS’ fandom, known as Army

, Jin recalled how he recently told a press conference that he felt he could share his feelings of sadness with fans through music, and how this song grew out of him questioning whether he was worthy of congratulations after 

BTS hit No 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart with

 

Dynamite

 

over the summer

.

“To be honest, I recently felt really burnt out. I think it was because I had a lot of thoughts about myself,” he wrote, according to a translation by South Korean portal Soompi. “I was congratulated by many people after reaching No 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, but I wondered if it’s really OK for me to receive something like that.

“There are honestly a lot of people who love music more than me and are better at music than me, so is it OK for me to be feeling this happiness and being congratulated like this? That’s what I thought about, and going further into that made me feel troubled, so I wanted to lay everything down.”

Source: SCMP

Harshvardhan Kapoor Wants To Be On Tinder

Blessed with good looks and a notable family pedigree, Harshvardhan Kapoor seems destined to be a huge Bollywood star. But unlike other young up-and-comers – including his sister Sonam.

 and cousin Arjun – the youngest son of Slumdog Millionaire star Anil Kapoor and wife Sunita appears to prefer approaching his career with patience and strategy. While his peers typically work through a multitude of roles at the beginning of their careers, Harshvardhan has only made two films since he made his acting debut in 2016. 

Harshvardhan earned his bachelor’s degree in screenwriting from Chapman University in California and initially opted to become an assistant director in Bombay Velvet (2015). “I think being an actor is the most insecure thing,” he told Indian newspaper Deccan Chronicle. “The worst thing in the world is to become an actor and not find consistency in the work.”

The Kapoor family is one of the oldest celebrity clans in India; in other words, Harshvardhan is the third generation of a long line of thespians

. His grandfather, Surinder, was a famed Bollywood producer and the cousin of renowned silent actor Prithviraj. His father Anil, meanwhile, has been one of India’s top actors since the 80s while his sister Sonam has been dubbed “the fashionista of Bollywood”.

For his debut film Mirzya (2016), Harshvardhan played the starring role of a stable boy. He underwent intense horse riding training for the role, taking a year and half to prepare. But the 29-year-old actor went even further: he spent months in a horse stable in Seattle in the US, tending to the horses every day on top of training, to commit deeper to the role.

Harshvardhan will be starring opposite his father in an upcoming biopic about Abhinav Bindra, retired sport shooter and first Indian Olympic individual gold medallist. In order to portray Bindra, Harshvardhan spent five months practising daily at a shooting range.

The Manchester United fan also believes that he should be living a normal life in spite of his background. He was even on the dating app Tinder for a while before deactivating his account as the price of fame. “I really want to be on Tinder,” he told Man’s World India. “I am dying to be on Tinder. I am going to take a trip abroad just so that I can download Tinder and be on it.” He further stated that he dreads “the misinterpretation and the judgment” that comes with being a movie star.

Source: SCMP

K-pop Song For The Covid-19 Pandemic

Our lives may have been turned upside down this year because of the global Covid-19 pandemic, but K-pop stars have kept releasing new material, including songs that touch on living in the coronavirus era.

Tomorrow X Together: We Lost the Summer

In this sprightly tune from TXT's latest EP, "Minisode1: Blue Hour", out this week, the members sing about the lost summer of 2020, bemoaning the state of the world that kept them from enjoying the season and the missed opportunities for summer love.

"The cafe that I went to has now closed (and how) / I hide my sigh behind this stuffy mask (remaining here) / I hate my face without expression (you know)," members Taehyun and Soobin sing on the track.

Source: SCMP

McRefugee Movie by Aaron Kwok

The plight of Hong Kong's McRefugees receives unabashedly melodramatic treatment in this humane yet relentlessly bleak movie. Ironically, in a year that has seen the film's theatrical release repeatedly postponed by the coronavirus pandemic, the lives of those homeless people who are used to sleeping at night in 24-hour McDonald's joints have become even more of a nightmare.

Produced by Soi Cheang Pou-soi, I'm Livin' It premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2019, before going on to win a Hong Kong Film Award in May for the veteran comedian Cheung Tat-ming, in the best supporting actor category.

Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China.

The feature-film debut of long-time assistant director Wong Hing-fan is clearly pitched as another showcase for the acting of Aaron Kwok Fu-shing, the Canto-pop star playing a former investment expert who has fallen on hard times. But it is the ensemble cast who are memorable and who will win audiences' hearts.

Kwok plays Bowen, the de facto spiritual leader of a small group who spend their nights in a fast-food restaurant. Too ashamed to reunite with his mother (Nina Paw Hee-ching) and sister (Kathy Wu Jiaxing) since the prison spell that preceded his homelessness, Bowen appears content with life as a vagabond.

It must feel a little like redemption, then, that he also gets to use his street smarts to help out his fellow McRefugees: from a runaway teenager (Zeno Koo Ting-hin) to a talkative caricature artist (Cheung Tat-ming), a single mother in heavy debt (Cya Liu Yase), and an elderly widower who keeps denying his wife's passing (Alex Man Chi-leung).

A story of broken dreams and unfulfilled promises, the screenplay by Ja Poon ( A Beautiful Moment ) rarely misses an opportunity to pile on the misery. A would-be romance between Bowen and Jane (Miriam Yeung Chin-wah), a lounge singer who has carried a torch for him for years, never materialises, reflecting the film's austerity.

While Cheung took the limelight with his win at the Hong Kong Film Awards, I'm Livin' It is a true team effort; under Wong's measured direction, almost every actors leaves an impression. Sentimental, yet realistic for the most part, this film casts a rare spotlight on the Hong Kong underclass, one that hopefully will inspire positive action in their favour.

Source: MSN

Andy Lau Concert After Covid-19 Pandemic

Fans of Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau can rejoice as he has announced a concert and a new record.

The good news was announced during Lau’s 59th birthday celebration that was broadcast live 27th September.

Apart from treating his fans to several songs from his previous albums during the one hour telecast, Lau also sang his upcoming release of Jixu Meili (Continue to be Beautiful), reported Hong Kong portal Ming Pao.

“This is my first time singing this song, I think I sang a bit too fast! I am very excited, sweating!” he said.

Lau said for his birthday wish, he hoped that the pandemic would be over soon and for everyone to be happy and healthy.

“After the pandemic, we can meet more often.”

Responding to queries from fans, Lau assured that he would not cancel any physical performances.

“We just temporarily postponed it. Once the pandemic is over, we will arrange (new dates),” he said, adding that he missed taking photos with all his fans.

Lau usually celebrates his birthday with his fans, including those from his official fan club, Andy World Club but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the physical celebration this year was replaced with an online gathering.

He has cancelled several scheduled concerts in Hong Kong and China this year due to the pandemic.

Nicholas Tse Turns 40

Known for his dramatic stunts on screen, actor Nicholas Tse, who has a net worth of US$139 million, loves to cook, likes straightforward people and might just be the world's next kung fu star.

Born to veteran actors Patrick Tse and Deborah Li, Nicholas spent most of his childhood in Vancouver and Phoenix, Arizona, where he was in the limelight because of his parents. Holiday photos of him and his sister were often published in magazines, and as a result, Tse would grow comfortable being in the public eye.

Following his parents' footsteps, Tse made his debut in the entertainment industry as a singer but found mainstream success in acting. He is the only actor to have won best new performer (1999), best supporting actor (2010), and best actor (2011) at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

He is a chef and an entrepreneur

Tse started cooking after he saw a TV show explaining how difficult it is to create a souffle or profiterole. "It immediately inspired me to try making them," he told CNN.

He then opened his own bakery, Chef Nic's Cookies, in 2015. Unfortunately, due to the economic downturn caused by anti-government protests and the Covid-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, the store has since closed.

Aside from the bakery, he launched a TV show in 2014 called Chef Nic where he documents his culinary endeavours with famous personalities like Jackie Chan and Fan Bingbing.

He likes it when people keep things simple

Netizens and viewers of the Netflix series J-Style Trip were surprised when Tse said he likes uncomplicated people and cites co-actor Jay Chou and rumoured love Faye Wong as examples. "Among people I know, only Jay and Faye are equally simple-hearted," he said.

Tse owns two properties at Lyndhurst Terrace in Central, Hong Kong. According to Malay Mail, quoting a report from Apple Daily, he had to slash his rental rates. One of his lots is now offered for rent for HK$82,000 (US$10,500) a month; back in 2012 it was rented out for HK$225,000 (US$29,000).

He might be the next kung fu star

Actor and director Donnie Yen thinks Tse has the potential to be a massive kung fu star. This seems apt given Tse's credentials and background: he was trained by Philip Ng, Andy On and Sammo Hung and has two decades' worth of experience acting in action films.

In an episode of America's Next Top Model Season 18, model mentor Miss Jay Alexander and Tse facilitated an action-packed acting challenge to teach a fight sequence to the models. He showed how to do a left and right hook, uppercut, and pin down an opponent, showcasing why he's one of Hong Kong's most respected action stars.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Handsome Prince of Malaysia

The 5th son of Malay Sultan Ibrahim Ismail of Johor is a proud military man who loves to be in the driving seat – inheriting a love of cars and bikes, but also staying in shape by playing golf, polo and sailing.

Being the fifth son of a sultan comes with its fair share of perks – one being that you are far enough away from the burden of the crown but still get to experience all the splendour that comes from being within His Royal Highness’ inner circle. Welcome to the extraordinary life the 27-year-old Tunku Abdul Rahman.

The royal lineage seems to have an affinity with racing cars and Tunku Abdul Rahman has inherited that need to get behind the wheel. In March 2019, His Highness, also known as the Tunku Paglima of Johor, marked his debut as a professional racing driver during the launch of his racing team. Like his grandfather, the Iskandar of Johor, he chose to compete in a Mercedes-Benz.

A skilled driver through and through, Tunku Abdul Rahman has also been known to sail yachts, ride motorbikes, and even manage the reins of a horse while competing in polo.

The prince isn’t one to shy away from social media, and he keeps his 500,000 Instagram followers entertained with posts and stories. And just like any regular fan, he shares shots of himself hanging out with his idols, such as MotoGP champions Marc Marquez of Spain and Australia’s Mick Doohan.

Aside from officially being known as the Tunku Panglima of Johor, Tunku Abdul Rahman was appointed a datu and the Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Johor while still a teen, in 2009, and was knighted in 2015, aged 22. At times, he has proudly donned his military uniform instead of civilian clothes. He once said on Instagram, “I wear my uniform with pride because I’m proud of the regiment I’m serving and also because I earned the wings and badges I have on my chest – I don’t wear them just as decorations.”

With his love for polo and car racing, it comes as no surprise that Abdul Rahman is comfortable outdoors. He spends his weekends on the golf course at times, and swims in one of the pools at the family’s official residence, Istana Bukit Serene. When he’s not staying fit by cycling, running, or riding, he participates in royal engagements, travelling by private jet when he can.

Source: SCMP

Yoson An In Mulan

With a black belt in karate and skilled in kick boxing, ninjutsu, power lifting and Olympic weightlifting, Yoson An's martial arts background stands him in good stead playing the romantic interest of Hua Mulan in Disney's upcoming live-action remake of Mulan.

An, who also does kayaking and rock climbing, says his sports background helps with his grasp of the fight choreography in the movie. "I actually did most of my stunts in this film, except for the really dangerous stuff which I leave to the professionals," he tells the South China Morning Post.

With most of the shooting done on New Zealand's South Island, where he lives, the 28-year-old says he was one of the first actors on the film to start training for it.

"The production was based 30 minutes away from my house. There was a lot of vigorous training involved. For (around five months), I had to train three to four hours a day with stuntmen and martial artists. For five days a week, I needed to do (extra) high-intensity interval training to maintain my physique throughout the shoot. I also did a lot of horse-riding and archery. I had never ridden a horse before this production."

Born in the city of Zhuhai, in southern China, An studied at an international school in Macau before moving to Auckland when he was seven years old. His movie career grew from pursuing musical theatre as a hobby when he was in high school.

"I didn't think (I would become an actor) when I was a kid. But that musical theatre hobby eventually turned into a passion," says An, who speaks fluent Cantonese, Mandarin and English "I did four years of acting classes with my coach, (American actor) Michael Saccente. I was lucky enough to have various exciting projects come my way leading up to Mulan."

After bit parts in films including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016), Mortal Engines and The Meg (both 2018), he secured his first breakout role in Australian police drama Dead Lucky. He played the male lead Charlie Fung in the four-part television series, a trainee detective who blames his partner, played by Rachel Griffiths, for the death of his best friend.

The biggest role so far in his career is unquestionably Mulan's Chen Honghui, a fierce warrior who joins the corps of Commander Tung (Donnie Yen Ji-dan). Tung is also the mentor of Hua Mulan (Liu Yifei), who disguises herself as a man to spare her elderly father from having to join the military. Chen then becomes Mulan's most important ally and, eventually, love interest.

An says it took two years for him to land the role. "My first self-taped audition was (sent over to Disney) in 2016. I didn't hear anything back for three months, so I thought I didn't get the role and moved onto the next project. But a year later, my agent (told me) Disney wanted to see me again for the role. Within five days, I had to learn these new scenes to do a Skype audition.

"A week later I was flown to LA from New Zealand to meet with Niki (Caro, the film's director) for an in-person audition. I had a great time on that short trip as I saw it as a free vacation to LA. I didn't hear anything again from Disney for another nine months after that. So the casting process was close to two years."

A fan of traditional Chinese stories, An says his interest in ancient Chinese culture helped him master the role of Chen. "My mum recited the (original Ballad of Mulan) poem (composed around AD400) to me a few times (when I was growing up); Disney's live-action Mulan version closely aligns to the poem.

"Also, one of my favourite TV series was the 1996 Hong Kong (TVB) version of Journey to the West (based on a 16th-century Chinese novel), starring Dicky Cheung Wai-kin."

An has enjoyed working closely with Liu on Mulan. "I grew up watching The Forbidden Kingdom when I was 15 years old," he says of the 2008 Hollywood film starring Liu. "We had a lot of fun hanging out together as a group. She's probably one of the most humble and focused actors I know. That aspect of hers has inspired me to be even more diligent and dive deeper into my craft."

Besides Liu, working alongside superstars such as Yen, Gong Li (who plays a powerful witch in the film) and Jet Li Lianjie (playing the emperor of China) was a surreal experience for An.

"I grew up watching all their movies. I had a lot of respect for them. All three of them are incredibly nice people. Whilst we were shooting in the South Island, I lived with Donnie for over a month under the same roof. We had dinner every night and played pool together, so we got to know each other pretty well both on and off the set."

With a production budget of US$200 million, Mulan distinguishes itself from most other Hollywood productions with its all-Asian cast. An says the increasing representation of Asians following the success of Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and The Farewell (2019) in the United States is an important industry change.

"It distorts the perception of who the Asian community are," says An of Hollywood's past practice of typecasting Asian actors in nerdy academic roles. "It's very irresponsible for filmmakers to portray communities of any kind in a false light. It also creates an illusion of separation in the world.

"In this age, we need more love, acceptance and compassion. I believe authentic storytelling can be a medium to bring these values to (the audience)."

Mulan will be released on Disney+ on September 4 in select countries, before opening in Hong Kong cinemas on September 17.

Source: SCMP