Lin Chi Ling wears Keith Png dress at Marina Bay Sands Shoppes

As a 21st century woman, Lin Chi-ling is the epitome of sophistication. For her, elegance is an aura one emits from within.

Apart from looking good and keeping a positive attitude in life, she believes that education, surroundings, and the people one encounters in life "plays a part" in contributing to the overall wellbeing of a person.

"I think a girl who is compassionate, kind, willing to give, willing to share-who makes this world a better place -- is a girl full of elegance to me," she quipped.

Blessed with a set of good genes and a flawless mien, Chi-ling attended the official opening of the Longines boutique at Marina Bay Sands Shoppes yesterday afternoon. Clothed in a Keith Png dress, Chi-ling oozed both style and elegance effortlessly in the knee-high number with a ruffled-top and a drapery bottom.

A complete standout from her 1.74m lanky frame, she is a demure, soft-spoken woman who exudes an aura of innocence with her saccharine sweet child-like voice. One might even find it hard to believe that the Red Cliff actress is in her mid-thirties (she's turning 36 on Nov 29).

With her hair gracefully styled in a French chignon, the model turned actress was all smiles at the Longines press conferencen. Speaking in fluent English, she briefly mentioned her future career plans and revealed she is currently "preparing myself for upcoming movies".

A self-confessed contemporary art buff, the demure one put her art skills and knowledge to good use and personally designed a rocking horse for a Community Chest charity auction.

As she unveiled her art piece in the room filled with guests and members of the media, the Art History grad appeared a little embarrassed and apprehensive about her masterpiece. Though a little squeamish initially, Chi-ling regained composure when she started to elaborate on its design aesthetic.

Inspired by changing fashion trends, she explained her choice of decorating the rocking horse with a coat of leopard prints, likening it as the "hot" and "in" thing now.

"I wanted to infuse the prints in a more graceful manner."

And that's when the world of art and fashion collides.

"I'm into trends and what's going on and happening right now. Animal prints are hot and 'in' now. I was thinking maybe I can do something related back to fashion for this work. And I was inspired by a leopard, a symbol of a hardy warrior," she shared.

Lin Chi Ling problem with health insurance

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan's Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) released a statement yesterday (Wednesday) clarifying that top model Lin Chih-ling has already made up her health insurance premium with no payment owed to the bureau.

The statement was issued following a media report saying that Lin, rated as a top model with an enviable high income, had failed to make her premium payment for three years.

The report has drawn criticisms about the financial loopholes in the NHI system and the negligence of the BNHI.

Officials at the BNHI under the Department of Health (DOH) said Lin revised her status as an employer to join the NHI program starting in March 2007, liable to a premium payment of S$265 per month.

But the existing regulations allow people who have to make frequent trips abroad due to work or other factors to apply for a suspension of payment when they stay overseas of more than six months. They may apply for resumption of the insurance coverage after returning to Taiwan, said the officials.

Concerning Lin's case, she has already made up the payment because none of her overstays exceeded six months in recent years, they added.

The officials said there are presently between 10,000 and 20,000 people who apply for suspension or resumption of the NHI coverage each month and it is impossible for the bureau to keep monitoring every single case.

But they conceded that under the current regulations, there is such a possible loophole for alleged evasion or delay of payment in case policyholders fail to make timely payment by neglect or elaborate effort.

However, the problem should be able to be solved after the Cabinet and lawmakers ratify the new set of rules governing the new generation of NHI program.

President Ma Ying-jeou and Premier Wu Den-yih have made a decision to introduce the second-generation health insurance plan, which would calculate premiums based on total household incomes with additional and enhanced rules to plug loopholes, within two years to improve the long-term financial viability of the NHI program, said the officials.

Diva Asia

Taiwan Beauty Lin Chi Ling lost watch in Malaysia

Taiwanese beauty Lin Chiling lost a Longines watch and other accessories worth a total of 200,000 Taiwan dollars (S$10,000) after her luggage was pried open while she was in Malaysia.

The actress flew in from China aboard a China Airlines flight and arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at around 10pm local time on Monday. She was in the Malaysian capital to promote her latest film “The Treasure Hunter” in which she stars with Taiwanese singer Jay Chou.

Luggage for business class passengers are usually processed and go through customs ahead of baggage of other passengers. However, Lin’s luggage only appeared with her entourage’s eight other pieces of luggage almost one hour after her flight touched down.

Lin did not notice anything wrong with her luggage until she got to her hotel room, where she discovered the locks on her luggage had been pried open and damaged. She immediately informed a representative of the local film distributor and got them to contact the customs office.

Lin expressed through her manager that she was a little unhappy about her loss, lamenting that “there were no problems the day before in Beijing but how did (her items) vanish in Malaysia?”

“Chiling has always been very careful. We had no problems even after travelling to so many places yet this time her luggage was the only one out of our nine pieces of luggage that was stolen from,” said her manager.

The 35-year-old model-turned-actress who made her movie debut in John Woo’s 2008 historical epic “Red Cliff”, plays Lan Ting, the love interest of Jay Chou’s character Qiao Fei in “The Treasure Hunter”.

The pair are in Singapore on December 22 to promote the film about a group of adventurers who race against time to protect an ancient treasure from an international crime syndicate.

88news.net