BEIJING (SCMP): The recent death in Japan of Taiwan actress and television host Barbie Hsu, also known as Big S, from flu-triggered pneumonia has prompted an outpouring of cherished memories from her fans.
Many people have recalled the warmth of her personality, her inspiring words and the profound impact she had on their lives.
Sweetest person
A woman in Taiwan told of an encounter with Hsu many years ago.
It came while she was crying on the back of her boyfriend’s motorbike while he waited for green light at a busy road junction.
A woman in the car next to them rolled down the window, and waved at her boyfriend with a pack of tissues in her hand, encouraging him to comfort her.
“It was Big S!” the woman said.
Hsu was a household name in the Mandarin-speaking world following the hit 2001 TV drama Meteor Garden. She defied the stereotype of an unapproachable star.
Another person in Taiwan said when he worked at a restaurant, he saw Hsu invite a person who tried to sneak a photo of her to do the photo together, and even bought them a drink.
An online user based in Malaysia shared a group photo of her family and the late star.
The fan said she asked for a photo after encountering Hsu and her sister, Dee Hsu, known as Small S, in 2019 in Malaysia.
Hsu noticed her mother standing aside, and dragged her over and invited the “auntie” to take a photo together.
“She is an angel,” the fan said.
Superwoman Hsu
For many of her friends and fans, Hsu seemed invincible.
An early interview with her and her sister which circulated online after her death. Dee Hsu revealed that her sibling once knocked on a stranger’s door after hearing a child crying when she passed by the flat.
The man who opened the door was a gangster, but she “threatened” him anyway: “If you do not stop beating your child, I will call the police,” she told the man.
Her family’s second daughter, Hsu began protecting people in her childhood, when she fought against her abusive, alcoholic father.
Hsu cried over an injured stray dog, refused to cage her pets at home, and went vegan for 13 years after the family’s pet dog fell seriously ill.
When Dee Hsu was told her baby might have health problems during a prenatal check-up, Barbie prayed to the gods saying: “If our family must have an unhealthy child. I want it to be my child.”
Graceful, composed
A famous workaholic before having two children with mainland businessman Wang Xiaofei, she insisted on having everything under control, including her skin colour, weight, and schedules.
But she was never bound by social norms. She divorced her cheating husband in 2021, and married her ex-boyfriend, South Korean musician DJ Koo three months after the divorce.
On her social media account with 40 million followers, she explained her attitude to life: “No matter if good or bad things happen to me, I do not complain, make no excuses, and always try to be graceful and composed,” she said. - South China Morning Post
