PEOPLE dressed as Batman, Deadpool, zombies and a woman cosplaying as popular actress Fan Bingbing were among those arrested in a crackdown on Halloween celebrations, Sin Chew Daily reported.
A video went viral on Chinese cyberspace showing the arrests in Hangzhou on Oct 27.
The 10,000-strong crowd who came out to have fun on Halloween night at the Gongshu district were told by police to disperse.
This came after an earlier crackdown on the celebration in Shanghai, another major city in China.
According to a leaked internal memo by the Shanghai police, all “cosplaying activities” are prohibited and that no one was allowed to put on Halloween makeup in the city.
“If they refuse to cooperate, compulsory measures will be taken,” the memo read.
It was reported that in 2023, Chinese residents got to celebrate their first Halloween in three years following the lifting of Covid-19 lockdowns.
Some took to the streets and dressed up in politically-sensitive costumes such as hazmat suits and other costumes related to social and economic issues, many of whom ended up being arrested.
In spite of this, people were still seen dressing up in costumes in Shanghai last weekend.
> King of Mandopop Jay Chou paid tribute to a Malaysian fan who passed away just before his concert here on Oct 26.
Sin Chew Daily reported that the deceased’s wife wrote on social media that her husband was supposed to attend Chou’s concert on Oct 26 but sadly passed away earlier on the same day.
She made a public plea for concert goers to request the song I Truly Believe which was played as the opener to their wedding.
Right before he left Malaysia on Oct 27, Chou posted a photo on Instagram of his concert along with I Truly Believe as the background music.
The heartwarming gesture won praise from Chou’s fans and the widow.
“Thank you everyone who shared my post. My husband loved Jay Chou. I Truly Believe is a song I will remember him,” she said.
● 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.
