Edmund Tadros
February 14, 2008 - 3:09PM


What started out as a cautionary tale about storing lurid digital photos of past lovers on the computer has become one of Asia's biggest internet celebrity sex scandals and a focal point for censorship in Hong Kong.

Hundreds of photos featuring what appears to be at least five of Hong Kong's best-known entertainers have been uploaded to the internet after being copied from the laptop of Edison Chen, 27, a singer and actor.

Hong Kong police have now arrested nine people for uploading the images, which are being constantly posted and then deleted from message-boards across the region. The pictures have also been posted to file-sharing networks with new images being uploaded daily.

The photo scandal has been front-page news across Hong Kong tabloids for weeks and has led to users almost overwhelming various Hong Kong discussion forums.

In mainland China the images are being reposted to message boards as soon as they are removed by moderators, The Guardian reported.

A single discussion threat in the Tianya message-board about the pictures has attracted 25.8 million page views, with posters sharing tips on where to download the images.

This week the Catholic bishop of Hong Kong, John Tong, was moved enough to ask people to delete the photos.

"It is also biblical teaching that we should speak no evil, see no evil and hear no evil," he told the South China Morning Post.

"It is important that we should keep our mind decent and perhaps, needless to say, we should not post or circulate pictures."

Photos show sex scenes

The files were copied from the customised pink MacBook belonging to Chen when he took his computer in for repairs, Hong Kong police said.

The dozens of photos show Chen in separate scenes, some featuring sex, with at least six women, including Canto-pop singers Gillian Chung, 27, Cecilia Cheung, 27 and Bobo Chan, 28. The former two are also actors.

The pictures began surfacing on the internet late last month where they immediately caused a frenzy in celebrity-obsessed Hong Kong.

Representatives of the pop stars at first said the images were faked, message-boards lit up with hundreds of thousands of comments and Chen reportedly went into hiding.

Despite the initial denial about the authenticity of the photos, Chung, one of the country's most popular singers and part of a duo called The Twins, held a news conference on Monday at which she said she had been "naive and very silly" in her youth, The New York Times reported.

Chung, who features heavily in the advertising for Hong Kong Disneyland, refused to confirm or deny that she is featured in the material.

Cheung and Chan have not made any further public comment on the photos.

In a video statement, the Canadian-born Chen asked for the public to delete any copies of the photos.

"The lives of many innocent people have been affected by this malicious and criminal conduct, and in this regard I am filled with pain, hurt and frustration," Chen said.

"I hereby use this opportunity to apologise to anyone who has been affected by this strange, strange ordeal."

A Government mouthpiece, The Beijing Youth Daily, has taken a moralistic tone, calling Chen's behaviour "vulgar" in an editorial today.

"It is vulgar for him to develop the habit of taking nude photos or videos of others," the daily said.

"If the women stars were willing to have their photos taken, then they are also leading a dissolute life.

"If not, Chen is simply a scoundrel.

"In view of this, it is time for fans to reflect upon their infatuation with pop stars.

"Obviously these stars do not live up to their public image. So it is worthless for fans to believe blindly in their idols and regard them as spiritual beacons."

Hong Kong tabloids are now running reports that there are plans by gangsters to "teach a lesson" to Chen, the Times reported, noting organised crime was a key element in the Hong Kong entertainment industry.

It is important that people to learn new lesson on how to protect themself at the first place, not going after the aftermath...... but these shocking images in our asia culture does tell us that in the world of entertaiments, things can get pretty lusty..... sad way to start year of RATT