Japanese singer Gackt taking a break due to illness

Compiled by RAHIMY RAHIM, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN

JAPANESE singer and actor Gackt, who relocated to Malaysia several years ago, will be taking a hiatus due to poor health, Sin Chew Daily reported.

Gackt, whose real name is Gakuto Oshiro, announced through his agency that a childhood neurological disorder triggered a temporary life-threatening condition when he went back to Japan in August.

He is currently in stable condition but the ordeal caused him to lose 10kg within weeks.

Gackt, 48, will be returning to Malaysia, where he has a home, to receive treatment from his primary physician.

Previously, he showed fans his grand house on a Japanese TV show, saying that he would spend 60% of the year in Malaysia and the rest in Japan.

Gackt started his career in music as a vocalist in a rock band before embarking on a solo career in 1999.

He is also known for his role as the samurai Uesugi Kenshin in the NHK drama The Trusted Confidant and in the 2019 film Fly Me to the Saitama.> A principal of a secondary school in Hunan, China, sparked a debate online after sharing a video of himself eating scraps left by students, which were meant to be thrown away, in the canteen, Sin Chew Daily reported.

The video showed the principal, whose name is Wang Yongxin, collecting leftovers. He then proceeded to eat the leftovers and even encouraged other students to do so.

Wang said he did so as a means to promote a “waste not, want not” habit among students.

After he began doing so, he said many students began finishing everything on their plates.

When the news came to light, netizens were divided about Wang’s action. Many praised him for promoting a culture of frugality but others felt that his practices were unhygienic especially in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The above articles are 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 a >, it denotes a separate news item.