Information technology has overtaken real estate as the cradle of the next generation of Chinese billionaires.

 

The rise of IT billionaires is exemplified byChina's new richest man, Jack Ma, founder² of e-commerce giant Alibaba, whose personal wealth soared to $25 billion on the company's first day of trading.

 

Ma has passed Li Ka-shing, the Hong Kong property and ports tycoon³, as Asia's richest person, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

 

 

Li Na, winner of two Grand Slams and China's most successful tennis player, announced her retirement⁴ in September.

 

Li Na wasn't just a Chinese trailblazer, she was one of the best players ever to play the sport, but injuries caught up with her in 2014 and she had to say farewell, leaving a big gap in Chinese tennis.

 

Li left a legacy⁵, not just forChina, but for Asia as well.

 

 

China's Internet pop sensation the Chopsticks Brothers, whose viral hitLittle Applehas been viewed more than a billion times on China's popular video websites, won the International Song Award at the 2014 American Music Awards in Nov 23.

 

Although the song was generally dismissed by music professionals who criticized it as musical "junk food",Little Apple's domestic popularity paved the way for the duo to become international hit.

 

 

Jaycee Chan, son of kung fu movie star Jackie Chan, was arrested inBeijingon Aug 14 after testing positive for marijuana.

 

Action and comedy star Jackie Chan, 60, served as a goodwill⁶ spokesman for the China National Anti-Drug Committee in 2009, promoting anti-drug education.

 

"I failed to be a good father and I deserve the blame. I take the responsibility and apologize to public on behalf of Jaycee!" Chan wrote on Sina Weibo.

 

 

Popular actor Huang Haibo, known for his clean image as “China’s son-in-law,” was detained by police on May 16 after being caught with a prostitute in aBeijinghotel.

 

While the scandal shook the nation, much of the online feedback was forgiving, citing his bachelor status as an excuse for his act.

 

The reaction was in stark⁷ contrast with the revelation of Wen Zhang, another popular actor with a public persona of simple honesty, cheating on his wife.

 

 

When Chinese film and television star Wen Zhang was recently exposed for carrying on an illicit⁸ affair with another performer, both he and his actress wife, Ma Yili, were thrown into the maelstrom⁹ of public attention. Wen immediately apologized, and his wife, almost in lockstep, quickly accepted his apology, effectively taking the heat off him.

 

Here was Ma's post: "It's easy to be in love, but not easy to be in marriage. We must cherish it as we go along."

 

 

Guo Meimei, the 23-year-old who was held on suspicion of illegal gambling¹⁰, was formally arrested for prostitution and organizing gambling in August.

 

But her biggest sin, which she herself so relentlessly¹¹ touted¹², is the pursuit of wealth through dubious¹³ means and the excessive ways of squandering¹⁴ it.

 

 

The announcement of the investigation¹⁵ into former senior official Zhou Yongkang in July has revealed the courage and resolution of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to purify itself and run itself with strict discipline.

 

The arrest of Zhou Yongkang was announced in December. It was beyond the expectation of many that such a top Party official would be brought to court and put on trial.

 

 

On Dec 18, China's best-known sexologist and sociologist¹⁶, Li Yinhe, for the first time revealed her female-to-male transsexual partner of 17 years in her blog, refuting tabloid¹⁷ newspapers which have said she is leading an "abnormal" life being a "lesbian". The post attracted public attention to transgender people, a group that has been largely unknown and unacknowledged.

 

"Discrimination against people like me is always present, along with public and family pressures, but, compared with the happiness and satisfaction of being who I really want to be, those things are insignificant," she said.

 

 

A retrial lasting¹⁸ more than three weeks finally acquitted¹⁹ a young man called Huugjilt of the rape²⁰ and murder of a young woman, for which he was wrongly executed in 1996 at the age of 18.

 

For the building of a real rule of law, redressing²¹ any misjudged cases, the ones involving wrongly executed innocent people such as Huugjilt in particular, is of utmost importance.

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