Barbie ‘Big S’ Hsu’s family to bring ashes back to Taiwan on Thursday

SCMP | Feb. 4, 2025, 4:08 a.m. | Original

Barbie Hsu became a household name in Hong Kong and across Asia for her starring role in the 2001 television drama Meteor Garden. Photo: AFP

The ashes of recently deceased Taiwanese host and actress Barbie “Big S” Hsu Shi-yuan will reportedly be brought home from Japan on Thursday by her husband and younger sister.

Taiwanese media also reported on Tuesday that Hsu, 48, had been suffering from flu symptoms during her family trip to Japan before she succumbed to pneumonia.

Hsu’s husband, Koo Jun-yup, and sister Dee Hsu, known as “Little S”, would bring back the ashes to Taiwan on Thursday following cremation in Japan, while her mother would fly home on Tuesday, local media said.

Hsu’s death , confirmed by her family on Monday, shocked fans around the world. She became a household name in Hong Kong and across Asia for her starring role in the 2001 television drama Meteor Garden .

A screenshot of a social media post purportedly written by a tour guide for Hsu’s family circulated online on Tuesday, saying the actress had begun to show flu symptoms four days before her death.

Based on the screenshot, Taiwanese outlet EBC News reported that the tour guide said Hsu had begun coughing and displaying asthma symptoms on January 29 and did not leave her hotel for the next two days.

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