Compiled C.ARUNO,ARFA YUNUS and R.ARAVINTHAN
UNSCRUPULOUS traders are using the face of Chinese actress Jia Ling, who lost 50kg for a role in the sports drama Yolo, to promote weight-loss pills and slimming products, reported China Press.
With the movie’s success, health products ranging from fruit juice to black coffee have been using Jia’s face in their packaging to convince potential buyers of their supposed weight-loss benefits.
Jia issued a statement through her agency Beijing Big Bowl Entertainment Culture Media calling out the blatant misuse of her likeness.
Eyes on the prize: Jia lost 50kg through a strict diet and training regimen to play an amateur boxer in Yolo. — Handout photos
“We noticed there are unscrupulous companies who have used Jia Ling’s face without her consent.“They are misleading the public by claiming the artiste is partnering with them or has been signed on as a brand ambassador,” the statement read.
The agency said it will reserve the right to take legal action against these companies. It was reported that Jia Ling, who weighed around 80kg, put on an additional 20kg to play protagonist Du Leying at the beginning of the movie.
Over a year of filming, she kept up a strict training regimen and stuck to a diet to lose close to 50kg to play someone forever changed by her passion for boxing.
The film grossed US$479.4mil (RM2.25bil) worldwide.
> A kindergarten in China which specialises in teaching culinary skills to toddlers is so popular that parents are travelling a great distance to send their children there, reported Sin Chew Daily.The school caught the Internet’s attention recently after videos of young children dressing fish, baking biscuits and making sausages went viral online.
According to headmaster Zhang Qiangao, the kindergarten in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, started cooking classes outside of the classroom in 2020. Pupils are taught not only how to cook but how to look after farm animals too.Parents living as far as Inner Mongolia and Harbin were so impressed with the school that they were willing to send their children there. According to Zhang, enrolment in the school is fully booked up to 2026.
● 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
