Ethan Ruan Receives Preferential Treatment in Taiwanese Army?
Golden Horse Best Actor, Ethan Ruan (阮經天), has officially enlisted in the army to complete the mandatory military service requirement for men in Taiwan. Arriving at the camp yesterday, Ethan drove his private car straight into the grounds without the need for security clearance. The most surprising aspect was that Ethan’s girlfriend, Tiffany Hsu (許瑋甯), and his male assistant were also inside the car. No wonder rumors spread that he possessed “special privileges” [as a celebrity soldier] in the army!
It was rumored that Ethan has been assigned to serve as the anti-drug ambassador as part of his alternative service in the army. He will join a touring committee to promote the army’s anti-drug campaign. The law required that an anti-drug ambassador possess a college degree; however, Ethan was only a high school graduate. It was questionable whether the authorities had relaxed the requirements for alternative service [in Ethan’s case]. Regarding this matter, Ethan’s assistant claimed he was not informed about the situation.
In addition, Ethan’s assistant revealed that Ethan was adjusting well living in the army barracks. Yesterday, Ethan officially started his training courses, including drills such as running 3,000 meters.
Source: Oriental Daily
Jayne: A year will quickly pass. I wouldn’t be too surprised if Ethan Ruan does receive preferential treatment in the Taiwanese military. He is sacrificing a heft income to serve for the country.
I think that the ones who are enlisting how are luckier than the ones in the past. In the past, military service was 2 years. It is not a surprise that celebs often get special treatment with a variety of things. I heard that Takeshi Kaneshiro(Jin Cheng Wu) got Japanese citizenship due to his celebrity status. It is hard to get Japanese citizenship too…
Anyways, good luck to Ethan and hope that he adjusts well and will not be forgotten…
Maybe it’s also because he’s half Japanese? His father is a Japanese citizen. So, it’s not only because he’s celeb.
@Kidd,
I know that he is half Japanese BUT I heard that even if that is the case, they are still really strict about giving him citizen. Therefore, I am pretty sure his celebrity status definately helped…
Oops menat to say “citizenship”.
Oops meant to say “meant”. Boy, I really need the edit button…
HeTieShou,
Jimmy Lin’s stardom somewhat faded after he served 2 years in the army. But nowadays, with the internet in helping spread news, Ethan’s management company can easily distribute his news to ensure fans don’t forget about him in the next few months.
Ethan joining the army has been very well publicized in the media. Maybe they can even make a documentary for distribution later in the year about training hard in boot camp.
Jayne,
I know because I used to be a VERY big fan of Jimmy Lin but I no longer like him since he pissed me off…He just wasn’t worth me liking so much and I think back to how silly I was back then for liking and supporting him so much. I feel that everyone will be forgotten at least to some extent due to the high competition in the circle and new stars arising everyday… However, that is normal and expected… Everyone has ups and downs in their career. Nicky Wu struggled for many years to get back up again and luckily his role in BBJX helped bring him back his stardom again…He also served for 2 years.I feel that the ones that are serving now are way luckier since they only serve 1 year as opposed to the 2 years that others used to serve.
Jayne ,Is this guy acting any good?i never saw this dude act before?is he a singer?
is his acting skill can compare to Chow Yun Fatt ,Jet Li,Donnie Yen etc?
Anyways the ways he will lose his life in the Taiwanese army if China attack Taiwan except he join the US army which the nation can only beat China in war .
Ethan Ruan won the most recent Golden Horse award for Best Actor. So, his acting should be pretty good.
He started out as idol drama actor and got really popular with the series ‘Fated to Love You’. He won the Best Actor Award for the film Monga.
Moses,
Ethan Ruan is very famous in Taiwan, both for his heartthrob looks and one of the youngest Golden Horse Best Actors in recent history. A lot of hope riding on his future success.
The article implied that due to Ethan’s celebrity status, he is given preferential treatment in the army. He will definitely not be a front line soldier sent to die in battle.
“Monga” was one of Taiwan’s biggest movies at the box office; it has been compared to “The Young and Dangerous” film installments.
I’ve only seen Ethan Ruan in Fated to Love You, and from what I can remember, he was alright. He didn’t leave me much of an impression (nor did the drama itself).
But I’ve heard his next goal is the HKFA Best Actor. He should be in a movie with Myolie 🙂
Are u being facetious about the hkfa thing?
B/c why would a Taiwan actor care about hkfa? Isn’t golden horse the most prestigious award already?
Anyway, ethan is totally hot. I’m sure his fans will wait for him.
A lot of Taiwanese actors care about the HKFA. More credits on your resume.
HKFA, Golden Horse, and China’s Golden Rooster/Hundred Flowers are the most prestigious Chinese film awards. It makes sense to why Ethan would want to go for the HKFA. Also, HKFA nominated films get more international exposure.
But to win a HKFA, u need to act in a hk film!
@Moses,
Everyone’s acting is subjective so I suggest that you watch him act for yourself. Then you can decide for yourself if he is good or not. I saw him in some idol series and his acting is pretty good for a younger generation actor. I don’t think it is fair to compare him to Chow Yun Fat, Jet Li, etc.. because he is a lot younger and is from the newer generation.
Moses,
Ethan is one of the most promising young actors of Taiwan. Watch ‘Monga’; he was excellent there. He’s a better actor than Donnie Yen IMO. Those latter I consider more action actor than real actors.
Jayne, it is mandatory military service of I believe 2 years. It is no sacrifice because the alternative is jail. Korea is especially strict on that. He shouldn’t be given special privileges. Of course someone of his fame should be used in PR dept but if he is smart he shouldn’t treat the army as some resort.
Funn,
I read that since 2009, the Taiwanese government has reduced the military serving time from 2 to 1 year.
Jayne,
People are debating about Ming Dao(another Taiwanese actor)that still hasn’t served… I guess it is good that Ethan is finally going but I don’t feel that it is fair for him to get special treatment over others.
There will be more pressure on Ming Dao now since Ethan who is younger than him already join the army.
All eyes will be on Ming Dao, Joe Cheng and Mike He. They were the ones who get singled out every year for delaying national service.
It think it’s just smart utilisation of people instead of preferential treatment. Ethan, being a popular celeb, will have way more influencing power than any college grads.
I think the media should give Ethan a break. When he didn’t enlist, they keep hounding him. Now, he enlisted, they still won’t let him go.
@ Funn
He still has to do drills such as running 3,000 meters. So, even if he want to treat it like a resort also cannot.
i thought for Taiwan it depended on your fitness test or something? i remember Calvin from Fahrenheit only did months cos of his “weak” body
@KangNam,
You are right I read all of Jimmy Lin’s army diary and he mentioned that they would first do a health check and then give you a rating. If you get a higher rating on health, then they make you do more..
@ KangNam
“i thought for Taiwan it depended on your fitness test or something? i remember Calvin from Fahrenheit only did months cos of his “weak” body”
No need to “” the ‘weak’. He really does have health problem. I know many people suspect him of purposely losing weight to make himself underweight get a shorter serving period. But, beside the weight problem, he also has ‘Mitral Valve Prolapse’, a heart problem. That can’t be faked.
@KangNam,
I also heard that Calvin has Meniere’s Disease as well and that also can’t be faked… Aaron Yan has that and a lot of other health problems so he is exempt from serving as well. Alec Su also did not serve due to his really bad vision…
I think Calvin’s Meniere’s Disease was discovered after he served the military. I read a news about him feeling dizzy during performance and doctor said he has Meniere’s Disease. That news was after he came back from army. So, I don’t think that count in his health evaluation before entry to army.
As for Arron. I thought he was exempted because of his leg injury. He has to undergo surgeries a number of times. It’s like a recurring injury. I remember at one performance, his 3 band mates dances, but, he just stood there and sing. Maybe Meniere’s Disease + leg injury get him exempted.
Interesting that Meniere’s Disease does not affect his ability to sing and dance. I think the leg injury is a better excuse.
@ Funn
This is what I get from Mediline Plus.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/menieresdisease.html
” Symptoms occur suddenly and can happen as often as every day or as seldom as once a year.”
Maybe his symptom is infrequent?
@Kidd,
Oh really? I thought that Calvin had Meniere’s disease before the army… I am not too sure since I don’t remember.
As for Aaron, he has a long list of health problems besides just Meniere’s disease and that leg injury. He also has asthma. I heard that he felt that he almost died during one of the attacks recently…
@Funn,
That was back then. I heard that it is now only a year or 1 and a half years at most. It is no longer 2 years. I agree that it is a requirement to serve or else you will get locked up. Most celebs do get some special treatment due to their status which I sadly don’t think is fair… But hey, that’s life…
I think it is still 2 years in Korea…
Yes korea is still 2 years. Good way to beef up, exercise, stay healthy and stay alert
At least he’s serving. Aren’t a whole slew of other Taiwanese artists also supposed to be serving?
I wonder if the ‘special treatment’ for artists is some new thing / strategy for Korea and Taiwan’s military to deal with famous artists. Hee-chul of Korean boyband Super Junior was given a non-front-line post and got the same criticism, and his post seems to be very free compared to other ‘traditional’ military postings.
And it also seems to be a ‘new thing’ for artists now to enter the army at the height of their popularity.
Korea: Super Junior’s Hee-chul, Kang-in (who is almost done), and Lee-teuk (entering this year), singer/actor Rain, actor Hyun Bin, actor Kim Rae Won (who just finished late last year)
Ethan is the only Taiwanese artist to be entering at the height of his career. So there will be pressure for the others (Joe Cheng, Mike He, Ming Dao, Joseph Chang – has he served yet? Eddie Peng… is he a Taiwanese citizen? etc.) to enter as well.
They have to serve by a certain age, allowed a few years of leave and then they must serve at max age. Like how Jimmy Lin did it and he was way way wayyyyyy famous than ALL OF THEM. He had to serve. Only if you have medical condition you don’t need to serve (jang donggun for one). I believe even university students don’t need? Not sure. But you have to serve. Period. Some need not, probably they’re not Korean or Taiwanese.
And imagine you got a superstar in the army. Surely you want them to do something like PR work, more effective. There’s no war for them to go to, but for such famous guys, better to let them promote the army.
Funn,
Allegedly by 2014, Taiwan will make military service a voluntary act.
Jayne, really? Ha ha! That would mean almost zero participation!! Taiwan should make it mandatory as it is. They’re always in the threat of invasion (in their own eyes) and reunification (in other people’s eyes)!!
I read that Jimmy Lin can delay his enlistment because his brother was also serving at the time. But, he chose to enlist anyway. Agree that Jimmy was way way famous then all of them at the time. He went at the height of his stardom and estimated to have lost a lot of potential income.
As for uni students, yes, while you are studying you can delay your enlistment, but, not exempt from it. I read that in Taiwan, max age is 32 or 35. That’s why a lot of young male artists in Taiwan like Ming Dao, Mike He and Joe Cheng used study to delay enlistment. Some like Ming Dao has been in uni for 10 years and still has not graduated. But, after the media and military highlighted this tactic and called out some names, these artists have been under scrutiny and pressure to join. Some uni that many of these artists joined has also made effort to curb artists using them just to delay enlistment. Mike He’s uni made him promise not to miss more than 5 classes. This has disrupted his work schedule and he has to flying to and fro many times while he was filming Ah Niu’s movie in M’sia.
It’s wise fo Jerry Yan and Jiro Wang to get it done with before they became hugely famous. Now, they don’t need to worry about enlistment.
@Jayne,
Really?? Where did you get that info from?? I am shocked if that is the case because aren’t they always scared of CHina attacking them???
University students have to enlist after they are done with school but aren’t exempt from it. I must say that it is a good idea for them to enlist because they learn a lot things and in some cases, it makes them a better person…
I wonder if they do make it a voluntary act, then I think no one will enlist then… Many only enlist because it is mandatory. I sort of doubt that is true…
Bridget,
In terms of bright career prospects, Ethan Ruan is probably the Taiwanese equivalent of Nicholas Tse. Ethan won the Golden Horse Best Actor and Nicholas won the HKFA Best Actor Award when relatively young. It would be interesting to see them collaborate on a movie together.
No, Jimmy Lin served at the height of his career too and I think he was even more popular than they are…
Yes Jimmy Lin was super duper famous at that time. He was considered Taiwan’s national treasure because he was so famous. I think he couldn’t delay the service anymore hence he had to join.
No, he could delay, he just choose not to. I remember reading about this last time.
I thought he couldn’t delay anymore? Because if I remember correctly he delayed for a long time. Because it doesn’t make sense that his recording/management company would allow him to go if he was at the height of his career, I believe he had no choice.
It definately was not because of age since he was only 20 at the time when he enlisted. I guess he just wanted to get it overwith and maybe be with his brother who was also serving??
I believe he does receive special treatment. In Singapore celebrities and those from rich families do get preferential treatment. They don’t do as much drills as the others. Many can even get exemption from enlisting.
You bought up some good points… I heard that Taiwan is really corrupt so I am not shocked if what you said is true.
China Mainland is extreme corrupted too. I hear many stories from my Chinese friend, he is a son of a very rich family in hotel business in China, now he is working his Master of Electrical Engineering in New York (renting a $4000/month apartment with a friend). His parents even chopped a hand of a person without going to jail – yes, one of his many stories…
I love US, 1 gym class for high school, none for most of major. Wanting to be in military? Get to learn first and be healthy.