The year can only get better for local singer-songwriter JJ Lin. He was punched by a man at an autograph session in Taipei on Jan 1. According to China Times, Lin was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and then the trooper returned to the venue to continue with the autograph session.
Unfortunately, he is not the only Asian star who has been assaulted. Who knew entertainment was such a risky business?
1. Stefanie Sun
The homegrown songbird has been attacked not once, but twice.
While promoting her debut album Yan Zi in Taiwan in 2000, a man tried to take her hostage with an air-gun at an autograph session. He was arrested.
Then there was the controversial incident in Egypt in Feb 2007, where she had gone to film two music videos for the album Against The Light. It might not have been an attack exactly but there were murky claims of guns, guards and extortion attempts.
2. Jam Hsiao
In Oct 2013, Taiwan's Jam Hsiao escaped being hit by a container of faeces flung by two men. Instead, the excrement landed on his driver. For the poo attack, four men were later charged with intimidation and public insult.
3. AKB48
Two members of the mega Japanese girl group AKB48 were hospitalised after being attacked by a man wielding a 50cm saw at a regular meet-the-fans event in Takizawa last May. Rina Kawaei, 19, and Anna Iriyama, 18, received emergency surgery for broken bones in their right hands and they also suffered cuts on their arms and heads.
4. Girls' Generation
Towards the end of a performance by the Korean girl group of Run Devil Run at the Angel Price Music Festival in Seoul in April 2011, a man walked onstage. He headed straight for Taeyeon and then pulled her offstage. He was quickly stopped and no charges were filed. The incident can be seen on YouTube.
5. Eric Tsang
The popular Hong Kong entertainer was attacked by three men wielding torchlights, ash-trays and glass bottles at a private club in Kowloon in July 2001. He suffered serious head injuries and received at least 20 stitches. The attack was said to be triad-linked and at one point, singer Joey Yung was arrested in connection with the case.
