巩俐(Gǒng Lì) Gong Li and her “New Nationality”
Finishing with the sentence “We are of Singaporean identity now,” Chinese actress Gong Li became Singaporean on 9th Nov in 2008 in the formal swearing-in ceremony 宣誓仪式 (xuānshì yíshì) in Singapore. Since then it has become a hot topic among people all over China. Gong Li is a famous movie star who has starred in many movies directed by Zhang Yimou, arguably the best director from mainland China in the past twenty years. A number of people are very angry about this issue and believe that she has betrayed 背叛 (bèipàn) China. They simply can’t understand Gong Li’s choice to become a Singaporean citizen.
In an interview with Yang Lan, the host of a Chinese in-depth interview 深度访谈 (shēndù fǎngtán) television program, Gong Li responded directly 正面回应 (zhèngmiàn huíyìng) for the first time to the issue of her taking on Singaporean nationality. She said that it was just her personal choice to become Singaporean and she didn’t want to talk more about it.
At the end of the interview, Gong Li said:
“Rénmen jì bu jìzhù wǒ wú suǒ wèi, wǒ de gōngzuò jiù shì lǎolǎoshíshí de zuò yí gè yǎnyuán.”
“人们 记 不 记住 我 无 所 谓， 我 的 工作 就 是 老老实实 的 做 一 个 演员。”
“I don’t care whether people will remember me or not, I just want to be true to my work as an actress.”
生词(shēngcí) Vocabulary
宣誓仪式(xuānshì yíshì): n swearing-in or oath-taking ceremony
背叛(bèipàn): v to betray
深度访谈(shēndù fǎngtán): n in-depth interview
正面回应(zhèngmiàn huíyìng): v to make a positive or direct response
老老实实的(lǎolǎo shíshí de): adj