SHE had merely wanted to prove her sincerity in apologising for an uncalled-for remark.

At least, that's what she claimed.

Model Rimmy Hsu jumped into a river in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung on Wednesday in an attempt to calm a storm of criticism following a controversial remark she made, Taipei Times reported.

Hsu had said that women in southern Taiwan were less refined and that they wore "granny underwear".

Her actions left some netizens unimpressed as they doubted her real intentions.

The 22-year-old, who goes by the stage name of Jui Mie Mie, was one of the guests in a recent episode of the talk show University.

The topic of discussion was young women from southern Taiwan.

Participants of the show passed judgment on various aspects about women in the south, including their accent, make-up and bearing.

Angry and displeased netizens lambasted the programme, accusing it of prejudice and of trying to create a divide in Taiwan.

Several Facebook pages against the talk show have since been set up, with one garnering more than 65,000 supporters.

Swallowed water

At 11am on Wednesday, Hsu jumped into the Love River wearing a swimsuit and a life vest.

Hsu, a non-swimmer, looked miserable after swallowing several mouthfuls of water and coughing several times.

After being pulled out with the help of a rope, Hsu covered herself with a big towel and apologised at least five times.

She then said she chose to jump into the river "because I feel that an apology is not enough" and because the "Love River represents all of Kaohsiung".

A woman who happened to be passing by shouted: "You shouldn't look down on southerners."

The woman said she wondered why someone would want to "split the north and the south" and that "we're all the same".

But she added that Hsu had proved her sincerity by her act and should thus be forgiven.

Hsu's agency said she had learnt her lesson and hoped people would forgive her.

But some netizens were unconvinced and felt it was all just a media stunt. A number of them questioned her reasons for jumping into the river.

Netizen Fini Bai wondered: "If she sincerely wanted to jump into the river and apologise, why did she also call the press to the site?"

This article was first published in The New Paper.