Compiled by TARRENCE TAN and C. ARUNO

CHINESE actress Datuk Fan Bingbing hopes to win a second Golden Horse Awards by starring in Mother Bhumi, the latest feature film by Malaysian director Chong Keat Aun.

Fan won Best Supporting Actress in 2007 for her role in the horror film The Matrimony.

“I won Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Horse Awards and hopefully, one day, I will bag the Best Leading Actress,” she told Chong, Sin Chew Daily reported.

Fan was nominated in 2016 for the best actress role but lost to Zhou Dongyu and Ma Sichun for their shared win in the Chinese film Soul Mate.

In Mother Bhumi, Fan will be playing the role of a widowed farmer who uses black magic to help her community in Kedah.

In preparation for the role, she learnt how to plant rice seedlings.

During one of her lessons, she lost her footing and fell, causing her to be covered in mud.

Despite the incident, Fan was adamant that she wanted to continue, earning the admiration of fans.

“This is to learn all about the character; it’s all worth it,” she had said in a video.

> The daily also reported that unemployed youths in China are resorting to sleeping and showering in 24-hour gyms, with some paying only 200 yuan (RM118) for monthly access.

Gyms appear to have become a safe haven for those facing financial difficulties, with many choosing to spend the night there on yoga mats instead of sleeping on the streets.

These “gym sleepers” appear to outnumber those who were actually there to exercise.

It was reported that while sleeping at cyber cafes was cheaper, many were unable to fall asleep due to the noise, thus making gyms a more attractive location.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a, it denotes a separate news item.