Pop star Edison Chen Koon-hei, who is at the centre of a sex-photos scandal, will make a scheduled promotional visit to Singapore next month, despite a threatening letter containing a 9mm round being received by Cable TV on Wednesday and another being received by Apple Daily publisher Next Media yesterday.
Peter Lam Kin-ngok, the head of Media Asia, said yesterday the beleaguered star did not deserve death threats and would definitely attend publicity events for the movie The Sniper. It is Chen's first film since the celebrity sex-photos scandal broke early last year.
The film, produced by Media Asia, will open in Hong Kong on April 9 and Southeast Asia around the same time. The date of Chen's promotional visit to Singapore has yet to be finalised, and there are no plans for him to promote the movie in Hong Kong.
'We never thought of having [Chen] promote the film in Hong Kong,' said Mr Lam, adding that Chen's continued absence from the city had nothing to do with the threat, but was Chen's preference.
A threatening letter, which contained a 9mm cartridge, was sent to Cable TV on Wednesday. The letter said it was a 'final warning' for Chen and told him not to make any public appearances after April 4 or his life would be at risk.
A letter of similar content and containing a cartridge was also received at the Next Media building on Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, the Apple Daily reported on its website late last night. The letter was sent from New York and addressed to Next Media chairman Jimmy Lai Chee-ying. Police confirmed they had received a report about the letter.
A Cable TV employee said of the letter received by his company: 'The letter in English was a computer printout saying that [Edison] should not appear or speak again. It said his personal safety would be in danger. But no word like 'kill', 'shoot' or 'chop' was used in the letter.'