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Alex Lo

Just as beleaguered Edison Chen Koon-hei  has advised his sorry saga should be a lesson to young people, language lover Siu Kai-wing has now taken it up on his popular instructional website.
The former English teacher has nothing but praise for the actor's public apology, offering it as a rare example of excellent English public speaking in Hong Kong.
'It is a masterful public speech. Every word is simple and to the point, yet emotionally appealing and moving,' Mr Siu wrote in Chinese.
'The content is dignified. Whoever wrote it is a master of masters.'
The speech certainly did its magic, helping to generate public sympathy and turn Chen from villain to victim. Netizens and parent groups have voiced support after his apology.
In his article, Mr Siu goes into an extended analysis of key phrases and sentences, citing for example the clever use of the passive voice in Chen's admission of having taken the sex photos.
Chen said: 'I admit that most of the photos ... were taken by me.
'But these photos were very private and have not been shown to people and were never intended to be shown to anyone.'
This, according to Mr Siu, establishes Chen as a passive victim.
He thereby accepts his share of the responsibility without directly associating, in the mind of the listener, his photo-taking action with that of the photo distribution on the internet, which he goes on to describe as malicious, deliberate and illegal.
Mr Siu's website has acquired a cult following among young people in Hong Kong, with his use of quirky examples from real life and showbiz. Well, whatever you think about Chen's statement, it certainly beats fellow victim and Twins member Gillian Chung Yan-tung's  'I am naive and silly but now I'm grown up' speech, which has made her the butt of internet jokes.
Mani Fok Man-hei,  Chung's manager, please take some elementary lessons from Chen's PR team.
We, too, have been curious about who actually wrote the speech for Chen. We assume that Chen didn't write it himself because if he did, he should be writing speeches for the president of the United States instead of working as an actor-singer in our backwater entertainment industry.
Mr Siu's website is at hk.myblog.yahoo.com/siu82english/



Edison Chen's speech-writer  should be serving the Oval Office