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Yes 933 DJ Hazelle Teo engaged to pianist-content creator James Wong

Yes 933 DJ Hazelle Teo engaged to pianist-content creator James Wong

CNA20 hours ago

Yes 933 DJ Hazelle Teo is engaged. The 31-year-old shared the good news on Instagram on Friday (Jun 6) in a joint post with her now fiance, pianist-content creator James Wong, 24.
The post included a few details of the proposal, including that it took place on the last day of Teo's week-long work trip in Qingdao, China, at her hotel.
"This feels so right. We feel so right. The rest of our lives feels so right. We're so excited to begin this new chapter together, and thank you for sharing in our joy," the newly engaged couple wrote.
CNA Lifestyle spoke with Teo to find out more about the proposal, how the couple met and what future plans they have.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Hazelle Teo 张颖双 (@heyhihazelle)
THE PROPOSAL
Teo shared more details of the proposal. She said: 'We got back to the hotel at 1am that night and we only had five hours before we had to be at the airport to fly back to Singapore.'
When Teo was at the hotel lobby, a staff member from travel company Chan Brothers told her that the hotel was offering her a room upgrade after recognising her as a radio DJ, and that all she needed to do to redeem it was go to the room, film a video and tag the hotel on Instagram.
Teo was hesitant because it was late at night, she was tired and she had to wake up in five hours to catch a flight home. However, she went ahead with her co-host, Qijia, to the top floor of the hotel, not realising that Qijia was helping Wong.
"When I went into the room, I saw this videographer standing inside with a camera facing towards me but it still didn't occur to me that it was a proposal," Teo added.
'I thought the hotel had sent someone to be in the room to film DJs' reactions as we entered the room to use as part of the marketing. So I was angry. I thought 'How can this hotel invade my privacy?''
'But when the room door opened up even more, I saw this soft orange glow from the inside. There were flower petals, there were candles, and I saw this oddly familiar person standing there, and that was James,' she recalled.
'At that point in time, I was lost for words. I really didn't know what to think. I didn't know he could throw a surprise of this level,' she said. 'Especially because we keep in touch all the time and have each other's location. I would always know where he is.'
Wong went to the extent of turning off his location services and telling Teo that his Find My was not working to keep the fact that he was in China a secret. He even extended their stay, contacted Teo's manager to arrange for her to have a month-long leave and also packed extra clothes for her for the trip.
'It was at that point that I thought 'Oh man, this boy is so sweet',' Teo said.
'My criteria for the proposal was that it had to be private, and I wanted one of my good friends and photographer, Wei Jie, to come and be hiding somewhere," Teo said.
So Wong flew Wei Jie out for the proposal as well. The next day, the three went out to popular spots around Qingdao to shoot.
'After Wei Jie went home, we hired a makeup team and photographer from China to just capture some pictures of us,' she said. 'I also bought a dress from the night market in Qingdao to shoot in. It was super spontaneous and fun."
HOW THE PAIR MET
Teo and Wong have been dating for more than a year. 'When we first got to know each other, I was the one that went after him,' Teo said, laughing. 'It wasn't the typical 'guy chasing after a girl'.'
'It happened back in 2024 when he appeared on my Instagram explore page and I decided to reach out to him to see if he wanted to collaborate,' she told CNA Lifestyle.
'I thought 'Hey, this guy is pretty cute. He plays the piano. Let me reach out to him to do a Taylor Swift song [where] I would sing and he would play the piano. To my surprise, he agreed.'
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by James Wong (@jameswong.kl)
Teo said that she used this work collaboration as an opportunity to ask for Wong's handle on messaging platform Telegram, so they could communicate easily.
'I tried to speak more with him on Telegram. But you know what? He never replied. He only replied to me when it came to the work side of things,' she said, laughing.
'But when I started to steer the conversation towards our personal life, he would reply to me after some 14 hours with some response I can't reply to like 'haha' or 'okay', that kind of thing.'
When Teo asked Wong out for supper one day, she said that it 'opened up the foundation of our relationship'.
'That night we spoke for a solid three hours. We just went on and on and on,' Teo recalled. 'After that night, it just felt like we could still keep talking about so many more things. And that's when he became more responsive on Telegram."
'I could feel the dynamics between us shift a little bit. Things between us progressed quite smoothly and swiftly, because it just felt so, so right.'
They met each other's parents within three months of dating. 'My parents are in love with this guy. They say 'He's so polite, he's so kind', and he treats my parents very, very well, just as he treats his parents well too.'
'I believe in dating a guy who is very filial,' she added.
Teo also said that she admired Wong's ambition. 'My top criteria for dating is that the guy must have drive,' she said. 'I thought that I was a workaholic, but after meeting him, I learnt that there's so much more that I can do.'
She added that since they are both content creators, Wong had given her a lot of social media content ideas. 'Honestly, because of his ideas, it has helped me bring more followers as well. So I love tossing around ideas as a team and just being better together.'
When asked about her wedding plans, Teo said that she would prefer it to be a very private event.
'Having hosted so many different weddings, I would love to think that I don't want to be a 'bride-zilla'. I want my wedding to be super chill and super cool. Maybe I have a Milo cart there for my friends and family,' Teo joked.
'So (I want my wedding to be) just with my friends, my family, people who love us. I want this day to be really about coming together, celebrating us,' she added. 'I won't do an over the top wedding because I feel like it really tires me out.'
TEO KNEW THAT WONG WAS 'THE ONE'
'I've always, always dated older guys, so it never really crossed my mind that maybe a younger guy would have worked out for me,' she admitted.
Teo shared that her relationship with Wong also received a lot of support from her family and fellow Mediacorp artiste friends.
'I knew he was the one when Tay Ying, Tay Ying's husband, Kayly, Denise (Camilla Tan), people who are very close to me kept telling me, 'I feel like James is really so good to you. He's so right for you',' she shared.
'Hearing these comments reaffirm my life choices, and made me really want to cherish this relationship.'
When asked whether she wants to start a family, the radio DJ said: 'Yes! I want kids. I love kids. I keep telling my friends to wish me Zao Sheng Gui Zi ('may you give birth soon' in Mandarin).'
Teo told CNA Lifestyle that she hopes to have four kids. 'But it probably won't be so soon. It will probably be after the wedding,' she added. 'So we'll just focus on getting our stuff done first, building our foundation and spend some more alone time before family comes into the picture.'
MAKING HER RELATIONSHIP PUBLIC
Teo however, did not post much about her and Wong's relationship online when they were dating.
She admitted that after she made her last relationship public, it was 'awkward' when listeners approached her asking about her and her former partner after they broke up.
'So I told myself the next time I get in a relationship, I will only announce when we are engaged, which is why James and I are taking this step – we both believe in only announcing it after we get engaged,' she said.
She did however have a 'public relationship' moment at Hong Kong singer-songwriter GEM's concert in March when the 'kiss camera' panned to her and Wong.
'That was insane,' Teo said. 'I said 'There's 50,000 people here. There is no way the kiss cam is going to capture us'. Ten seconds later the camera was right on our faces and I was so shocked, I really could not react.'
'So GEM actually bao toh (tattled on) us before anyone else,' she joked, saying that she instantly received many texts on her phone about her and Wong's appearance on screen, including one from her boss.
Moving forward, she added that the pair have created a couple account on social media and will focus on making couple-centred content.
'Both of us are content creators and we find that there are a lot of things that happen in our daily lives; very interesting snippets that, if we share online, will be quite fun and interesting for everyone to follow,' she said, revealing that account is ready but has not been made public.
'We just want to have fun,' she said. 'It's also a way of working together with my future husband.'

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US$70 a photo, no problem: Vintage vibes of peel-apart film charm Chinese youths
US$70 a photo, no problem: Vintage vibes of peel-apart film charm Chinese youths

CNA

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  • CNA

US$70 a photo, no problem: Vintage vibes of peel-apart film charm Chinese youths

BEIJING: It's a delicate and manual process, with no second take. No guarantees on quality as well - in fact, unpredictability is a signature trait. Also, it costs a pretty penny - upwards of several hundred yuan per shot. A long-discontinued type of instant film currently seen as the preserve of photography enthusiasts, peel-apart film has been staging a modern comeback in China, driven by celebrity recommendations alongside a broader youthful embrace of nostalgia. Photo businesses have also sought to cash in on the youth-centred hype, marketing the scarcity of peel-apart film and offering their services for a premium. Some are also offering bells and whistles, such as hair styling and make-up, to sweeten the deal. The hefty prices didn't put off Hu Wengji, 20, a Chinese second-year university student in Shenzhen. She got her peel-apart photos snapped in January, joining a crowd of young Chinese embracing the retro photo format. 'I took three photos - one for myself, one for my friend, and one including both of us. Three photos cost me more than 900 yuan (US$125),' she told CNA. PEELING BACK THE POPULARITY A form of instant photography, peel-apart film was introduced in 1947 by Polaroid founder Edwin Land. As the name suggests, it is developed by manually peeling apart the positive and negative prints after a photo is taken. Also known as packfilm, its popularity waned as more convenient instant photography formats like integral film emerged. The rise of digital photography left it further in the dust. But the vintage photography format has been enjoying a renaissance in China in recent months. The term 'si la pian', meaning 'peel-apart film' in Chinese, has been trending on Chinese social media platforms like Xiaohongshu and Weibo, racking up millions of views. A search by CNA on these platforms found numerous posts of users showcasing their peel-apart film portraits. According to local news reports, people have been taken by its analogue charm and visual unpredictability. The film must be pulled out of the camera by hand before being peeled apart to reveal the photo. Mess this up, and the shot risks being irreversibly ruined. The development process also yields a distinct, vintage aesthetic - worlds apart from the polished, clean-edged images emblematic of digital photography. The trend has garnered extensive coverage from local news outlets. Many have highlighted how celebrities have been driving the buzz. In late April, Chinese actress and singer Ju Jingyi posted images of her peel-apart film photo shoot on Weibo, where she has more than 31 million followers. The post received more than 1 million likes. Fellow Chinese actress Liu Shishi and the immensely popular Taiwanese singer-actress Ouyang Nana are among the many other celebrities who have publicly embraced peel-apart film. PAYING FOR SCARCITY But jumping on the bandwagon isn't cheap. Major producers Polaroid and Fujifilm discontinued their peel-apart film in 2008 and 2016 respectively. This means all existing stock is limited and expired, and can only be found on the secondary market. And prices have gone up exponentially as the stock level goes down. Checks by CNA on Chinese secondhand marketplace Xianyu found Fujifilm's popular FP-100c being listed at prices ranging from 1,600 yuan to 3,000 yuan for a 10-pack. The more recent the manufacturing date, the higher the price tag due to the lower risk of quality degradation. Before it was discontinued in 2016, the film retailed for a fraction of the price, typically around US$10 to US$20 for a box of 10. In a nod to its high cost, netizens have coined the term 'zhipian maotai', or 'paper moutai' in Chinese, to describe peel-apart film, referring to the hallmark Chinese liquor that can itself retail for more than double its average price of 1,500 yuan, taking Kweichow Moutai's flagship product Flying Fairy as an example. Photo studios have seized on the peel-apart film trend, with marketing centred on this sense of scarcity and vintage luxury. 'Pai yi zhang, shao yi zhang' goes their refrain, loosely translated to 'take one shot, lose one shot' - referencing how every photo taken eats into a finite peel-apart film trove. In a bid to reel in customers, photo studios in cities like Hangzhou and Chengdu offer packages that provide added services such as hair styling, make-up and framing, according to Chinese news site Shanghai Daily. And it's clear why they're gunning for a slice of the peel-apart pie - profit. Moyu Photo Lab, a Beijing photo studio located in the trendy neighbourhood of Sanlitun, opened in May last year and began offering peel-apart film photography four months later. While customers seeking such services currently make up just 10 per cent of overall clients, they account for more than half of the store's revenue, its owner Xu Huan, 30, told CNA. Most of them are aged between 18 and 25. Moyu Photo Lab offers three peel-apart film options. A monochrome shot costs 149 yuan a piece, a colour photo sets you back 459 yuan, while a colour photo taken using the Polaroid Big Shot - a popular camera model from the 1970s - costs 499 yuan. The studio has raised prices twice over the past eight months. The rate was initially around 300 yuan for a photo taken with the Big Shot, before being hiked to just under 400 yuan in February. 'With the recent surge in demand and rising (peel-apart) film costs, we had no choice but to raise prices again to just under 500 yuan a shot,' Xu said. 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THE BUSINESS OF NOSTALGIA The revival of peel-apart film in China has been linked to a broader global trend embracing nostalgia experiences, permeating sectors like fashion, music and technology. Vintage ensembles have come back into vogue, sales of cassette tapes and vinyl records have surged, and yesteryear gadgets like flip phones, iPods and Walkmans are being reintroduced. Tamagotchi, the egg-shaped toy housing a virtual pet that was hugely popular among children and teenagers in the 1990s, has made a roaring return, albeit with modern bells and whistles. In China, the newfound youth crush for peel-apart film comes after similar viral comebacks for other retro tech like charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras and older iPhone models. 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Yes 933 DJ Hazelle Teo engaged to pianist-content creator James Wong
Yes 933 DJ Hazelle Teo engaged to pianist-content creator James Wong

CNA

time20 hours ago

  • CNA

Yes 933 DJ Hazelle Teo engaged to pianist-content creator James Wong

Yes 933 DJ Hazelle Teo is engaged. The 31-year-old shared the good news on Instagram on Friday (Jun 6) in a joint post with her now fiance, pianist-content creator James Wong, 24. The post included a few details of the proposal, including that it took place on the last day of Teo's week-long work trip in Qingdao, China, at her hotel. "This feels so right. We feel so right. The rest of our lives feels so right. We're so excited to begin this new chapter together, and thank you for sharing in our joy," the newly engaged couple wrote. CNA Lifestyle spoke with Teo to find out more about the proposal, how the couple met and what future plans they have. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hazelle Teo 张颖双 (@heyhihazelle) THE PROPOSAL Teo shared more details of the proposal. She said: 'We got back to the hotel at 1am that night and we only had five hours before we had to be at the airport to fly back to Singapore.' When Teo was at the hotel lobby, a staff member from travel company Chan Brothers told her that the hotel was offering her a room upgrade after recognising her as a radio DJ, and that all she needed to do to redeem it was go to the room, film a video and tag the hotel on Instagram. Teo was hesitant because it was late at night, she was tired and she had to wake up in five hours to catch a flight home. However, she went ahead with her co-host, Qijia, to the top floor of the hotel, not realising that Qijia was helping Wong. "When I went into the room, I saw this videographer standing inside with a camera facing towards me but it still didn't occur to me that it was a proposal," Teo added. 'I thought the hotel had sent someone to be in the room to film DJs' reactions as we entered the room to use as part of the marketing. So I was angry. I thought 'How can this hotel invade my privacy?'' 'But when the room door opened up even more, I saw this soft orange glow from the inside. There were flower petals, there were candles, and I saw this oddly familiar person standing there, and that was James,' she recalled. 'At that point in time, I was lost for words. I really didn't know what to think. I didn't know he could throw a surprise of this level,' she said. 'Especially because we keep in touch all the time and have each other's location. I would always know where he is.' Wong went to the extent of turning off his location services and telling Teo that his Find My was not working to keep the fact that he was in China a secret. He even extended their stay, contacted Teo's manager to arrange for her to have a month-long leave and also packed extra clothes for her for the trip. 'It was at that point that I thought 'Oh man, this boy is so sweet',' Teo said. 'My criteria for the proposal was that it had to be private, and I wanted one of my good friends and photographer, Wei Jie, to come and be hiding somewhere," Teo said. So Wong flew Wei Jie out for the proposal as well. The next day, the three went out to popular spots around Qingdao to shoot. 'After Wei Jie went home, we hired a makeup team and photographer from China to just capture some pictures of us,' she said. 'I also bought a dress from the night market in Qingdao to shoot in. It was super spontaneous and fun." HOW THE PAIR MET Teo and Wong have been dating for more than a year. 'When we first got to know each other, I was the one that went after him,' Teo said, laughing. 'It wasn't the typical 'guy chasing after a girl'.' 'It happened back in 2024 when he appeared on my Instagram explore page and I decided to reach out to him to see if he wanted to collaborate,' she told CNA Lifestyle. 'I thought 'Hey, this guy is pretty cute. He plays the piano. Let me reach out to him to do a Taylor Swift song [where] I would sing and he would play the piano. To my surprise, he agreed.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by James Wong (@ Teo said that she used this work collaboration as an opportunity to ask for Wong's handle on messaging platform Telegram, so they could communicate easily. 'I tried to speak more with him on Telegram. But you know what? He never replied. He only replied to me when it came to the work side of things,' she said, laughing. 'But when I started to steer the conversation towards our personal life, he would reply to me after some 14 hours with some response I can't reply to like 'haha' or 'okay', that kind of thing.' When Teo asked Wong out for supper one day, she said that it 'opened up the foundation of our relationship'. 'That night we spoke for a solid three hours. We just went on and on and on,' Teo recalled. 'After that night, it just felt like we could still keep talking about so many more things. And that's when he became more responsive on Telegram." 'I could feel the dynamics between us shift a little bit. Things between us progressed quite smoothly and swiftly, because it just felt so, so right.' They met each other's parents within three months of dating. 'My parents are in love with this guy. They say 'He's so polite, he's so kind', and he treats my parents very, very well, just as he treats his parents well too.' 'I believe in dating a guy who is very filial,' she added. Teo also said that she admired Wong's ambition. 'My top criteria for dating is that the guy must have drive,' she said. 'I thought that I was a workaholic, but after meeting him, I learnt that there's so much more that I can do.' She added that since they are both content creators, Wong had given her a lot of social media content ideas. 'Honestly, because of his ideas, it has helped me bring more followers as well. So I love tossing around ideas as a team and just being better together.' When asked about her wedding plans, Teo said that she would prefer it to be a very private event. 'Having hosted so many different weddings, I would love to think that I don't want to be a 'bride-zilla'. I want my wedding to be super chill and super cool. Maybe I have a Milo cart there for my friends and family,' Teo joked. 'So (I want my wedding to be) just with my friends, my family, people who love us. I want this day to be really about coming together, celebrating us,' she added. 'I won't do an over the top wedding because I feel like it really tires me out.' TEO KNEW THAT WONG WAS 'THE ONE' 'I've always, always dated older guys, so it never really crossed my mind that maybe a younger guy would have worked out for me,' she admitted. Teo shared that her relationship with Wong also received a lot of support from her family and fellow Mediacorp artiste friends. 'I knew he was the one when Tay Ying, Tay Ying's husband, Kayly, Denise (Camilla Tan), people who are very close to me kept telling me, 'I feel like James is really so good to you. He's so right for you',' she shared. 'Hearing these comments reaffirm my life choices, and made me really want to cherish this relationship.' When asked whether she wants to start a family, the radio DJ said: 'Yes! I want kids. I love kids. I keep telling my friends to wish me Zao Sheng Gui Zi ('may you give birth soon' in Mandarin).' Teo told CNA Lifestyle that she hopes to have four kids. 'But it probably won't be so soon. It will probably be after the wedding,' she added. 'So we'll just focus on getting our stuff done first, building our foundation and spend some more alone time before family comes into the picture.' MAKING HER RELATIONSHIP PUBLIC Teo however, did not post much about her and Wong's relationship online when they were dating. She admitted that after she made her last relationship public, it was 'awkward' when listeners approached her asking about her and her former partner after they broke up. 'So I told myself the next time I get in a relationship, I will only announce when we are engaged, which is why James and I are taking this step – we both believe in only announcing it after we get engaged,' she said. She did however have a 'public relationship' moment at Hong Kong singer-songwriter GEM's concert in March when the 'kiss camera' panned to her and Wong. 'That was insane,' Teo said. 'I said 'There's 50,000 people here. There is no way the kiss cam is going to capture us'. Ten seconds later the camera was right on our faces and I was so shocked, I really could not react.' 'So GEM actually bao toh (tattled on) us before anyone else,' she joked, saying that she instantly received many texts on her phone about her and Wong's appearance on screen, including one from her boss. Moving forward, she added that the pair have created a couple account on social media and will focus on making couple-centred content. 'Both of us are content creators and we find that there are a lot of things that happen in our daily lives; very interesting snippets that, if we share online, will be quite fun and interesting for everyone to follow,' she said, revealing that account is ready but has not been made public. 'We just want to have fun,' she said. 'It's also a way of working together with my future husband.'

China's pro wrestling scene dealt one-two blow by sluggish economy, lack of support
China's pro wrestling scene dealt one-two blow by sluggish economy, lack of support

CNA

timea day ago

  • CNA

China's pro wrestling scene dealt one-two blow by sluggish economy, lack of support

BEIJING: In an event space on the fringes of Beijing, two heavyset wrestlers in spandex and masks stare each other down in the middle of a ring. They spring off the ropes with surprising agility, poised to strike. A third figure, clad in a traditional Chinese gown, storms onto the squared circle. With swift, kungfu-style power kicks, he sends both fighters crashing onto the mat with thunderous thuds that echo around the arena. "This is awesome! This is awesome!" the crowd roars in English. While the venue sold out all of its almost 400 seats, the overall number of Chinese pro wrestling spectators is a far cry from what it once was, with its standing ticket sales far below expectations. A few years ago, Middle Kingdom Wrestling (MKW), one of China's few homegrown wrestling promoters, was riding a wave of momentum. Viewership was increasing – its roster of pro-wrestlers sold out shows and profited from the sale of merchandise. But since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it has struggled to recreate the buzz. As China's economic slowdown continues to bite, its ticketed shows – which used to be held once every two months – are now organised just twice a year. 'We kind of had to slow down a bit and try to find opportunities. The economy continues to be sluggish for a lot of industries,' said Adrian Gomez, president of the organisation. Its shows are infused with a distinct local flair – wrestlers don gear with Chinese embroidery while traditional music blares from the speakers. A ticket at the front row costs about US$70, while the cheapest is priced at around US$26. Hardcore fans said they are willing to pay the relatively steep price, given that the live atmosphere at such events is electrifying and "incomparable" to watching on a screen. Some said they would even travel from other cities just for the experience. "I don't think it's very expensive. Here, I can experience the live atmosphere, see some of our top fighters, and also some of our top-tier pro-wrestlers. It's totally worth it,' said a ticket holder. MKW also live streams its shows for free, which typically attract several thousand views. UNTAPPED POTENTIAL In January, Chinese authorities relaxed rules for staging large-scale commercial performances as part of efforts to spur consumption. But pro wrestling is still struggling to carve out its audience in the country as debate persists over whether it is a violent sport or staged spectacle. The community lament a lack of official support, recognition and understanding of the sport. The scene's largely underground following is a world of difference from its far more glitzy and well-known counterpart – the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in the United States. WWE's flagship Raw programme still sees about 1.7 million viewers in America per episode, and made its Netflix debut in January with 4.9 million global views. Industry players said they believe there is enormous untapped potential for pro wrestling in China, the world's second most populous nation. They added that the sector just needs a breakout star to give the sport a fighting chance. 'The Chinese wrestling industry is still quite new and the main thing is that we need to cultivate an environment where it's going to allow a Chinese wrestler to break out. That is what's going to build up the scene,' said MKW's Gomez. For now, the sport remains a niche pursuit powered by passion, not profit. 'I was a full-time professional wrestler for a while, but it was only for a period of time. Most wrestlers have to work other jobs to make money,' said a Chinese pro-wrestler known as The Slam. 'Wrestling can only be a side hustle – there are some who do it full-time, but they're the very few.' Still, there are hopes that pro wrestling could gain ground. In southern China's Guangdong province, where WWE used to air on cable television, a restaurant went viral on Chinese social media last year for featuring its own wrestling ring. MKW, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, said the next step is to expand domestically beyond traditional fan hubs like Guangdong and Shanghai, into new markets like Beijing. "Beijing hasn't had a wrestling show in over 10 years, so that was a very calculated decision," Gomez said of the promoter's organising of the recent event in the Chinese capital. "If we go to Beijing, we've got to make sure that's it's the right time, that we have the right resources and that we do it right." He added that featuring international stars can also help boost the profile for local talents.

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