NEW DAD: Taiwanese novelist and director Giddens Ko, known for novels that have been made into films such as You Are The Apple Of My Eye (2011), has an apple of his eye in real life - his newborn baby girl. Ko, 41, married ex-broadcast journalist Chou Ting-yu (both above), 29, in 2017 and disclosed on social media in December last year his wife was pregnant.

Last Saturday, he posted on Facebook photos of himself with Chou and several friends, as he thanked well-wishers for their gifts but added that he still did not know how to be a father.

He also posted photos of a cot, baby clothes, car seat and stroller as the couple prepared for the arrival of their bundle of joy. Early yesterday, Ko wrote that his baby girl was born on Sunday and nicknamed her "A-lu". A-lu was Ko's dog, which accompanied him for 15 years but died last year. Ko posted photos of his baby girl as well as photos he and his wife took with their pet dog.

News about the new arrival at 8.19pm in the Ko family was first announced by the novelist's father Ko Yu-bin. Netizens joked that the elderly Ko was more excited to be a grandfather than the younger Ko to being a first-time father.