From The Straits Times    |

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Television sweetheart Ariel Lin with her businessman fiance Charles Lin at their engagement banquet on Wednesday. — PHOTO: WEIBO/BOWIE TSANG

Taipei – Television sweetheart Ariel Lin’s fiance, businessman Charles Lin, was a bundle of nerves on his big day on Wednesday: It was their engagement banquet, her 32nd birthday and his media debut.

Face to face with reporters at the 50-table dinner at Ambassador Hotel in Taipei, his hands were shaking and he was unsure where to stand, said Apple Daily. The actress had to tell him: “Honey, you have to stand a little closer.”

She joked that this was the toughest press conference in history, said the report.

He managed to say he was happy to be marrying such a beautiful bride.

In Taiwan, the betrothal is almost as important as the wedding. In an engagement ceremony witnessed by their parents in the morning, Ariel wore a bright red dress and Charles put a gold ring on her finger, said Apple Daily.

Later, she said it was a wedding ring, not an engagement ring. “This isn’t a diamond ring. It’s a wedding ring because I will wear it for a long time and it’s an easy match for clothes.”

They will wed on Christmas Eve. He is based in California, where he works at a branch of his family’s diving equipment business. She said she would commute between Taiwan and the United States after marriage.

She is the star of hit shows It Started With A Kiss and In Time With You. Her guests included TV, movie and pop stars such as Chen Bo-lin, Blackie Chen, Fan Fan, Rainie Yang and Kai Ko.

Ariel is said to have known Charles, who is about her age, for more than a decade. But they fell in love only after they met again in 2012 at her cousin’s wedding, where she was bridesmaid and he was best man.

On Wednesday, she and her fiance kissed at the dinner, but not before Chen Bo-lin, her In Time With You co-star, got up close to Blackie Chen to give the couple a demonstration of the kind of kiss the guests were expecting, said Nownews website.

Ko, who was arrested for a drug offence in Beijing two months ago, arrived at the dinner with his agent Angie Chai to cheers from a crowd, said Apple Daily. Fans shouted: “Kai Ko, you’re so handsome! Kai Ko, go!”

Both Ko and Chen Bo-lin belong to the close circle of actor Jaycee Chan, who was arrested at the same time as Ko and is still in criminal detention, said Apple Daily.

This was the first time Ko and Chen were at the same event after the arrests. Chen’s manager said the two greeted each other but did not chat because they sat too far apart.

This article was first run in The Straits Times newspaper on October 30, 2014. For similar stories, go to sph.straitstimes.com/premium/singapore. You will not be able to access the Premium section of The Straits Times website unless you are already a subscriber.