For as long as people have sold books, there have been those who want to censor books, or at least restrict access to them. This attitude is often driven by laudable motives, such as fears about corrupting young minds with unsavory content.

It's debatable whether racy photo albums featuring so-called pseudo-models being sold at the annual book fair qualify as 'soft porn', as some critics have alleged. The Obscene Articles Tribunal has classified them as neither indecent nor obscene. However, one of its adjudicators, Mervyn Cheung Man-ping, has expressed concerns that they may arouse an 'unhealthy sexual imagination'. Perhaps he would be more approving if publishers produce books that stir a healthier sexual imagination by his standard.

The albums' models appear in bikinis and lingerie. Some of their poses are provocative, but generally, the women are no more exposed than what is often shown in advertisements in MTR stations and commercials on television. It's not quite clear what the fuss is about; the models have provoked so much disapproval and resentment. Certainly, their fans have been rambunctious and caused disturbance to other fair visitors. The fans should quieten down, or be cordoned off. But otherwise, there is no clear reason why those photo albums should not be sold there. Perhaps, despite its cosmopolitan surface, Hong Kong remains a deeply conservative place.