The emergence of China as an economic superpower

Now in its 16th day, this strange, strange ordeal is far from settled. As a well-known blogger puts it: Apple Daily, perhaps Hong Kong's most liberal newspaper, has covered Edison Chen's sex scandal on its front page headlines for over 15 consecutive days now. That is twice more than the previous record, which barely seems consecutive at all, during SARS when people were dying. Except in the last 15 days, no one has died. All we had were smiles, laughter, perversion and finally hypocrisy. The key word today is no longer "computer modification" or "Photoshopped images", but hypocrisy.

Side note: If any of you, for some reason or another, failed to find the pictures, like the 50-year-old male who battled flu and exhaustion in hopes of Google-ing the "holy grail" and later ended up in hospital, you might want to look at what The Blemish has to offer in this post (it's a nice summary too).

As you may or may not have heard, a lot has happened since I last updated a week ago. Here is a summary (off the top of my head) of what major Hong Kong news articles had to offer last week:

- Feb. 6 was a biggie for those keeping count of the number of photos. About 209 photos were released that day (only less than 20 were on the Internet a day before that).

- Edison Chen gets his credit card endorsement taken away, Bobo Chan's wedding was called off and Cecilia Cheung's wedding might barely be saved.

- More women in photos are identified as some local stars; Maggie Q and Jolin Tsai's photos were reportedly released but turned out to be hoaxes.

- The 7th victim is Edison Chen's current girlfriend, Vincy Yeung. Many people question what her age was when her photos were taken (minimum 15, maximum barely 16). Age of consent in Hong Kong: 16.

- More and more photos of Cecilia Cheung and Gillian Chung. Kira, mysterious man who seems to be the sole source, claims to hold a Gillian Chung sex video that will implicate Jackie Chan (!) in scandal.

- Gillian Chung comes out of the shadow and talks to press. Most people disappointed with her "very naive, very silly" speech (pictured).

- More than 8 people/scapegoats arrested in connection with the scandal. Kira continues to taunt police.

- On the mainland, disks with 258 Edison Chen pictures were sold for $HK 20 a piece, with free download onto mobile phones for $HK 10.

- About 300 people protested on the street against the lack of freedom of speech on the internet and unnecessary prosecutions.

That summary was to get you on the same page. Here comes the hypocrisy. As many bloggers dutifully noted, the whole world was on Gillian Chung's side during the EasyFinder's episode of 2006. Two year ago, photos of her were taken in a Malaysian changing room and published in the local tabloids. Following that, she cried on television and many Hong Kong people, including prominent Hong Kong stars, stood by her side. But not this time. Why? As one Apple Daily reader rightly puts: "We despise you (Gillian Chung) not for your licentiousness, but for your hypocrisy."

For those who are unfamiliar with Hong Kong entertainment, artistes in Hong Kong place themselves on high moral ground and criticize others of immoral conduct in ways only politicans do in the West. Therefore, an artiste's private conduct is as much of importance as his/her public appearance. While we all know that Amy Winehouse is not exactly a role model for the young, teenagers in Hong Kong look up to the Twins not merely as singers and actresses, but righteous characters.

That is why she has lost all her credibility as a public figure and also why I would brand her as a hypocrite. Back in 2007, when she saw Cecilia Cheung and Nicholas Tse kissing, she said that she was disgusted and that she would never do that.  She attended the "Chaste School Campus Inauguration" and stated clearly that she opposed pre-marital sex.  All the while, as these words were coming out of her mouth, she was posing for those obscene photographs. She is neither naive nor silly, but an act. If she believed that she were in a position to say such things publicly and look down upon others, then maybe she should have reconsidered taking "sexy" photos with KY Jelly involved.

The Hong Kong Police isn't any better. If they knew that the pictures were real and originated from Edison Chen's computer, why don't they just summon him in for questioning and directly ask him to clarify the source? Why are scapegoats being selectively arrested and held without bail? Before the Obscene Articles Tribunal even made any classifications, the police arrested netizen Chung Yik-tin for posting one obscene photograph and remanded him without bail for eight weeks. It is unprecedented in Hong Kong for someone to be held without bail for two unrelated charges (he is also charged with fraud). It appears that the justice system works only to protect the rich and famous by intimidating common citizens.

What has Hong Kong come to? It's nice to see that after my previous article about the scandal and democracy that some in Hong Kong have picked up on the hypocrisy of all this. Not only does Hong Kong have to thank Kira for his unveiling of pornographic pictures, we have to thank him (or her) for revealing the hypocritical world we live in today. The sex scandal seems to have come to a slowdown in recent days as netizens in Hong Kong uncover the entertainment industry's deceptive narrative. Kira really brought out the greater good in each and every one of us, now that we don't need him (or her) anymore.