Jay Chou’s restaurant closing down

Compiled by C. ARUNO, ASHLEY TANG and R. ARAVINTHAN

ONE of the restaurants in Taipei belonging to King of Mandopop Jay Chou (pic) will be closing down at the end of this month after operating for 13 years, Sin Chew Daily reported.

Known as Mr J, the French-Italian restaurant voiced its gratitude in a Facebook posting to customers for their support over the years.

It will cease operations on May 31 following the end of its lease. However, the restaurant manager indicated that they would reopen when a suitable location is found.

News of the closure surprised Chou’s fans, many of whom reminisced about the times they spent there.

The restaurant, which is owned by Chou and several of his friends, was where some of the scenes in Chou’s first film Secret were filmed.

One of Chou’s other restaurant ventures, Mr J Tofu Shop, shuttered for good in 2013, citing expensive rent.

> Around a quarter of the one million small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia are expected to close down by October, according to estimates by the SME Association.

Its president Datuk Michael Kang told Sin Chew Daily that 60% of the respondents to its survey said they had zero income during the movement control order, out of which 30% are considering winding up.

Kang said the situation would worsen if SMEs were not allowed to resume their business.

> The daily also reported that Chinese singer Lee Ronghao has injured his foot, landing himself in a wheelchair again.

“I’m once again in a wheelchair. This is my fifth time.

“I’m lucky that I did not throw away the wheelchair. Sigh, ” he wrote on Weibo on Friday.

Lee, 34, did not specify the cause of his injury except to say that it was not serious.

He joked that he did not expect his career in singing and songwriting could be so taxing on his lower limbs.

“Are they being crushed under the weight of your talent?” a fan quipped in the comments section.

In 2014, Lee injured his foot after falling into a deep hole while filming a music video.

Three years later, he ended up in the emergency room after slipping and falling down in a hotel bathroom.

The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.