ELEVEN years ago, she decided to be an entertainer.
But now, Taiwanese songbird Angela Chang is resigned to the fact that her private family problems have become part of public entertainment.
The doe-eyed 27-year-old told The New Paper last Friday: “I started out hoping to provide enjoyment for everyone. But now it’s all coming back to me. My family difficulties have become a joke.”
Angela, who rose to fame acting in Taiwanese drama My MVP Valentine, was in town last week to promote her sixth album, titled The 5th Season.
And Angela knows the public is more interested in her season of domestic disputes. In September, her parents went to Taiwan’s Next Magazine with allegations that she had refused to take care of them.
Her mother also accused Angela’s Vietnamese friend Jenny of putting a hexon Angela.
Angela’s mum commented that the stick-thin singer-actress looked like she was in a trance and had dark circles around her eyes, insinuating that she could have been taking drugs.
Legal action
Later that month, it was Angela’s turn to spill the beans about her parents when she held a press conference in Taiwan.
According to Angela, the eldest of three children, she had cleaned cars and delivered lunch-boxes to support the family since the age of 15, after her dad stopped working due to a heart problem.
And last year, after recovering from a heart ailment in Canada, she returned to an empty home in Taiwan. She claimed her mum had taken off with her savings, amounting to NT$100 million ($4.3m).
Angela’s music label Linfair Records has since issued a statement dismissing all the allegations about her, and indicated it may take legal action against Next Magazine for its “non-factual” reporting, to protect Angela’s reputation.
But Next Magazine insisted it was merely “reporting whatever she (Angela’s mum) told us”.
The magazine’s spokesman added that if Linfair Records plans to take legal action, they should be clear about the facts involved or risk being guilty of making false allegations.
Angela’s family argument escalated quickly to become a public dispute between the two companies – and it all took place during the final stage of confirming the songs in her new album.
Angela self-deprecatingly included a cover version of the Bee Gees classic I Started A Joke in The 5th Season. It is the only English song on it.
The lyrics go: “I started to cry, which started the whole world laughing, oh, if I’d only seen that the joke was on me.” Angela told The New Paper: “That was exactly how I felt at that time.”
Privacy
Is the domestic dispute resolved? “Thank you for the concern, but I hope to settle this on my own,” said Angela with a weary smile.
She did reveal, however, that she is tired of losing her privacy, but has accepted it as part of her job as a public figure. “You gain some, you lose some,” she added philosophically.
She also said her working schedule is draining – up to 12 hours on a short day, but longer when there’s filming to be done.
Yet, having the love and support of her brother, 18, and sister, 26, makes it all worthwhile, she said.
Both siblings are now working. Her sister had accompanied her to the Taiwan press conference where Angela spoke out against their parents.
Said Angela: “I have always been a responsible daughter and sister, and I hope to give my family a better life.”
But most people wouldn’t wash their dirty linen in public. So was all this staged by Angela to milk publicity for her new album? She denied it, saying:“When such a family problem happens, nobody really knows what to say or do.
“Every member of the public is entitled to his own opinion, but not all are true.”
Angela added that after more than a decade in showbiz, she has discovered that “everyone learns different things due to his unique experience in life”.
“I’m actually just like any normal human being.”