HAVING gone through a sex change makes you exceptionally lucky in stardom. Or so it seems.

Lianhe Wanbao listed out certain known personalities who have had a sex change - Taiwanese model Alicia Liu Xun-ai, Japanese Haruna Ai, Korean Harisu Lee Kyung-eun - have all made a name for themselves in the entertainment industry.

Besides Liching, Taiwanese model Alicia had admitted to going for a sex change operation when she was eighteen, and gone on to become even more famous than she already was.

One commercial shoot fee is easily TW$3000 (S$150).

With regards to the Liching saga, Alicia said: "To go public with my sex change was more of a help for me than hindrance, and it had not affected my life."

The model also emphasised that she is still very popular among the opposite sex with one even giving her 99 roses to express love.

37-year-old Japanese trangender Haruna Ai who had gone for a sex change operation at the age of 19, was made famous for imitating popular idol Aya Matsuura 2 years ago, and had once won the "Miss International Queen 2009" transsexual beauty pageant.

She is very popular in Japan and one hour of television time would bring her S$10,500.

Harisu, who once came to Taiwan to develop her career, had attended 'Variety Big Brother' in 2003 and surprised the host, Brother Fei by publicly playing kissing games with him.

She married Mickey Jung more than 2 years ago, opened a Korean restaurant in June the year before, and opened a nightclub that uses transgender performances as centre of attraction in June last year.

The nightclub brings in about S$13,500 a night.