Taiwan's Funny Internet People

Singapore has its list of funny / interesting people, like MRT Ip Man and Lian vs Auntie. In Taiwan, an online vote was conducted recently to pick the top 10 boliao (useless) news. Granted that it is a bit boliao to vote for the top boliao news, but it was interesting cause it shows that weird and funny people exists all over the world. Let's look at a few of these people worth mentioning.

Similarly to Singapore, Taiwan also like to give nicknames to these people - these nicknames are usually formed based on the nature of incident that these funny people are in, followed by appending it with a brother (哥/弟) or sister (姐/妹) at the end.

1. 猴抓妹 (Sister 'Monkey Pull')

The story: Charmian Chen (陈维芊), or known online as 猴抓妹 claims that she was holidaying in Bali when two long-tailed macaques started to pull down her dress, apparently in an attempt to retrieve a piece of corn that has fallen into her top. Her friend who was with her on the trip continue to photograph this 'wardrobe malfunction' while Charmian continue to cover herself as best as she could (at the same time, smile at the camera??). Subsequently, these photos were posted online and immediately went viral, earning her interviews on Taiwanese talk shows to talk about her incident, and also a mention in British news. Some netizens however, thinks that the whole episode was staged, so as for her to gain some fame and the chance to appear on TV. Whether or not it was staged, it did give her the fame as she is now appearing quite frequently in Taiwanese talk shows and modeling in press magazines.

2. 是否哥 (Brother 'Is It?')

The story: Guy drives thru a Mcdonald's store in Taiwan at night, wanting to order spicy fried chicken, and specifically wanting the drumstick portion for both pieces in the set. Unfortunately, the restaurant had only one piece of spicy fried chicken drumstick left and it will take up to an hour to defrost and prepare the other piece, and the guy was offered other options of either a non spicy piece or a spicy piece from another part. The guy refused the offer and begins to argue with the cashier / server, who happens to be the manager of the store. He also whips up his camera to record the proceedings, so as to post it online hoping it will go viral and to gain support for him. The video did go viral, but most of the comments were in support of the store manager, who during the entire session, appeared to be very patient and apologetic about the whole incident and even offered to get a piece of the spicy fried drumstick from a nearby Mcdonald's store. The nickname of 是否哥 was because during the entire session, he keep repeating the term 是否 many times.

3. 憑什麼姐 (Sister 'Who do you think you are?)

The story: During an interview on a Taiwan variety show talking about the topic of famous Taiwan internet people, Chen Xiao Rou (陈小柔), also known as 憑什麼姐 declared that she used her Facebook account as a wishing well - whenever she wants something, especially luxury goods, she will just post the desired thing on Facebook and one of her admirers will immediately give it to her the following day. She added that she does not feel embarrassed about receiving such gifts as she felt that she deserves it. Immediately after this broadcast, the internet was abuzz commenting that based on her looks and figure, who does she think she is ( 憑什麼) that she deserves such a high following as well as expensive gifts from the followers.

4. 非洲槟榔生气哥 (Brother 'Angry Betel Nuts from Africa')

The story: Basically, its just a recording of an Hokkien speaking African who is lambasting, amongst other things, that size of a pack of betel nuts have significantly shrink that have gone viral.