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'Twin'-edged sword

Does anyone come out well from this enormous celebrity nude picture farrago? Indeed, dear reader, do you emerge smelling of roses? Have you searched the Web for these pictures or contributed to the endless gossip that surrounds them? There may be some people in Hong Kong who have abstained from this affair but I have not had the pleasure of meeting them.

By all means express moral outrage towards newspapers and magazines who are giving this story blanket coverage but please remember that they are doing little more than catering to their reader's voracious appetite for smut. Yes, I know that some of these publications adopt a high moral tone when reporting the story but this does little more than give new meaning to the word hypocrisy; lamentably, this is the way of the world.

Certain constants remain unchallenged: sex sells newspapers, celebrity gossip sells newspapers and when the two are combined well, even more newspapers are sold. None of this is surprising but it is hard not to be slightly taken aback by the mock alarm of some Hong Kong people who claim to be shocked by the fact that young nubile pop stars have sex with each other and engage in the voyeuristic practice of photographing their acts.

So let's hear a little less about public outrage but there is a case for hearing a lot more about how officials have handled this matter. The response of the forces of law and order hardly provides reassurance. At most this is a pretty low level case of obscenity, representing a breach of the antiquated and poorly defined Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance. Yet an assistant police commissioner was put in charge of the case and, so the police have admitted, at least 19 officers were mobilised to track down the culprits.

This crack team of porn fighters quickly arrested a photo shop employee who was detained prior to trial for eight weeks on grounds that remain unclear. Then it was implied that this arrest had solved the problem of who was disseminating the photos, a claim greatly undermined both by subsequent arrests and the continued appearance of more photos involving the same central figure in this alleged scandal.

To top it all Police Commissioner Tang King-shing has taken it upon himself not just to be a law forcer but to be an interpreter of the law by warning the public that mere possession of these pictures might render them liable to prosecution. It was subsequently said that the commissioner's statement had been misinterpreted but this does little to lower the unease about policemen taking on the role of lawyers.

That unease is exacerbated by the fear that law enforcers are guilty of double standards by deploying such extensive resources to deal with this case while really important crimes receive far less attention, particularly when they do not involve high profile personalities. The principle of equality before the law seems to have only selective application.

Meanwhile we are invited to feel sympathy for the alleged 'victims' of this affair. A slew of young Canto-pop stars have been thrust into the limelight in circumstances not at all of their liking. At first their handlers, or should that be manipulators, rushed forward to deny the authenticity of the pictures, suggesting they had been doctored. These handlers have gone remarkably silent of late.

But let us consider what these 'victims' do for a living. Their business is to be in the public eye: indeed, when the public ceases to be interested not just in their work but in them as people, they disappear to often well deserved obscurity. At one level they are employed to sing and act but at another to present an image which most certainly makes use of their sexuality, often towering over whatever talent they may have for singing or acting.

You can't have it both ways, demanding selective privacy for these quintessentially public figures, while also demanding selective publicity. And please, spare us the tearful public appearances that are becoming a part of this saga. To use an old but useful cliche: those who live by the sword die by the sword.

Stephen Vines is a Hong Kong-based journalist and entrepreneur

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