Thanks to the vigilantes who are on constant alert for signs of human flesh, we now know that pictures of a 14-year-old pop star wearing a silicon self-adhesive bra in flesh colouring does not constitute pornography.
Why this question should ever have come to court is a mystery but the Hong Kong authorities seem to have developed acute sensitivity to the small minority of moral crusaders who spend their time watching out for signs of flesh and other forms of supposed immorality. They had their day in court this week when Easy Finder magazine answered charges of breaching child pornography laws and was acquitted after the magistrate could find no reason to convict.
It is worth noting that the photoshoot of teen star Renee Lee Wan was one in a long line of similar publicity stunts engineered by recording companies, publicists and the usual rabble engaged in the less-than-inspiring teenage Canto-pop business in Hong Kong. Note the word business, because it is hard to pretend that this is anything else.
It may be described as harmless nonsense - albeit highly profitable nonsense - for some of those involved, but it is almost certainly not pornography. Yet the activities of this motley crew of self-publicists and their backers engage the intense interest of moral guardians, who are quick to fire off complaints to the Obscene Articles Tribunal and the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority (Tela). These organisations appear highly sympathetic to the vigilantes and have covered themselves in infamy by issuing a string of questionable rulings over programmes and pictures that offend only those determined to be offended but are regarded with no more than a shrug by the vast majority of people, who have better things to do with their time.
The depths of stupidity that result from this prurient preoccupation with pornography has resulted in the Obscene Articles Tribunal insisting that a statue of a male nude by world-renowned sculptress Dame Elizabeth Frink required the addition of a cardboard fig leaf to obscure the genitalia. This same body also took offence at a newspaper picture of one of the world's most famous statues, Michelangelo's David, and in a decision so bizarre that even some of the moralists were left bewildered, it ruled that a picture of an eight-year-old Chinese boy with severe facial burns was indecent and could not be used in an article aimed at raising funds for burn victims.
The 300 members of this tribunal seem determined to make Hong Kong an international laughing stock. Little wonder then that the government actually went to court in an attempt to maintain secrecy over the members' names. Fortunately, the court dismissed this absurd application, however, the judiciary website still does not publish these names. Hopefully this is a reflection of their embarrassment, but I doubt it.