Star joins showbiz stable of shame
The return of convicted Canto-pop singer Jill Vidal to Hong Kong may come as a relief for her family and fans, but the incident will be seen as a further wake-up call for the city's scandal-hit showbiz industry.
The industry is already grappling with how to rejuvenate stars whose squeaky clean images have been battered by shameful incidents.
In response to Vidal's two-year jail term that was suspended for three years after she pleaded guilty in a Tokyo court to possessing 1.836 grams of heroin on Friday, Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild chairman Alan Tam Wing-lun said he hoped Vidal would not make the same mistake again and he could suggest the guild organise activities to show that some stars had healthy lifestyles.
'People should not judge the whole industry solely by one case. There are still many artists who work diligently and live a healthy life.'
But the track record of the younger generation of pop stars may well disappoint the veteran singer.
Vidal, who smuggled heroin into Japan, was part of the government's anti-drug campaign in 2007. Vidal and fellow singer Kelvin Kwan Chor-yiu were arrested in the Dogenzaka shopping area, in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, on suspicion of shoplifting. Tokyo police later found a rolled-up cigarette containing cannabis on Kwan, but he was not charged.
In 2004, Canto-pop singer Deep Ng Ho-hong, then regarded as a rising star at the age of 21, was found guilty of possessing cocaine. He apologised to the public and pleaded for a chance to redeem himself. That year, fellow singer and budding actor Roy Chow Wing-hang, then 20, was sentenced to 18 months' probation for possessing the party drug Erimin-5, which is a tranquilliser.
Apart from the drug woes, the industry's image was damaged last year when hundreds of photos surfaced on the internet showing singer-actor Edison Chen Koon-hei and a string of female stars engaging in sex acts. They included Gillian Chung Yan-tung, formerly of the Twins pop duo, and Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi.
