娱乐英语新闻："Naive" pop singer breaks silence

Hong Kong singer Chilian Chung reponds to the celebrity sex photo incident at a fan club gathering. [Tungstar]

Canto pop singer Gillian Chung Yan-tung, one of the women in the recent celebrity sex photo scandal, broke her silence briefly on February 11th amid a gathering with her fans.

Chung said she regretted the impact that the incident has caused to society as a whole.

"I admit that I was very naive and silly in the past, but I have grown up now," Chung made the speech in the company of Charlene Choi Cheuk-yin, her singing partner in the pop duo "Twins".

"I want to thank my company, family and friends for their concern and support," Chung said.

She did not answer any media questions.

Chung is the second artist involved in the scandal to make a public statement over the incident. Edison Chen Kwoon-hei apologized for the incident through a video last Monday.

"I will continue to work and face my life in a positive manner," she said.

Her fans cheered after she finished the one-minute speech.

One of them said she has never seen the photos, while another said she would not leave the fan club.

Over the internet, however, Chung's speech has sparked frenzied discussion.

"The audiences are all naive too, we are deceived," said dd88_555, an online user, on the mainland forum "Tianya".

Another online user melon860411 said, "I used to love Chung, but now I am very disappointed."

Meanwhile, some expressed their support for the 27-year-old artist.

"Please don't focus on the scandal only. They (the celebrities) are also ordinary people. We should tolerate and help them resume normal life," Freeblueworld said.

Chilian Chung starts working on February 12th after celebrity sex photo scandal incident

The Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority has received 34 complaints about media reports on the incident.

Clement So, director of the School of Journalism and Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong, said the media should refine their reporting techniques. He added that the government should review regulations over online media which could convey information quickly and widely.

A citizen Mr Ho expressed concern over the incident, but said he would not filter the websites containing the obscene photos for his child.

"Children need to learn how to distinguish between right and wrong," he said.

Another parent Mrs Wan would filter the websites to prevent her kids from being exposed to the compromising photos.

"They are too young to understand this incident," she said. Ho's 10-year-old child never saw the photos.

Ho added while no single person should be held responsible for the incident, artists should pay more attention to their behavior.

Despite the arrest of the man who allegedly uploaded the photos last Monday, more photos were uploaded onto the internet. Seven females were identified, including Chen's girlfriend Vincy Yeung.

Mani Fok, manager of Chung, said the company Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG) and Chung would not respond to the incident in the future.

EEG initially claimed in a statement that the images featuring Chung were doctored.

The ninth arrest in relation to the posting of the photos has recently been made. The suspect, a 24-year-old man, was apprehended in Kowloon at 8:00am on Sunday. He was charged last night with distributing erotic photographs on the web and will appear in Kwun Tong Magistracy today.

About the scandal: Sex photos spark celeb apology

Following two weekend arrests of men in connection with recent online postings of illicit celebrity photos, actor/singer Edison Chen Kwoon-hei issued a public apology yesterday.

Police believe the arrest they made Saturday - one of seven total - is that of the man who initially uploaded the photos he found on a computer he was repairing.

Police have not released any names of suspects in the case, or the name of the computer's owner.

Another suspect was arrested Sunday, but police said they didn't find any of the photos on his computer.

The man arrested Saturday is expected to appear in court today.

Crime Assistant Commissioner of Police Vincent Wong Fook-chuen said somebody took the computer to a repair shop, where the photos were found on the hard drive and distributed unscrupulously to others.

Over 1,300 photos have been seized, and most of them are obscene. Six females were involved, four of them identified as showbiz artists. Wong refused to comment on how many men were portrayed.

Chen was among the celebrities identified in the photos that depict them in sexual acts. He publicly commented on the scandal for the first time yesterday.

"I feel painful, hurt and frustration," he said in a video released to the media by his manager. "I hereby use this opportunity to apologize to anyone who's been affected by this strange ordeal."

Chen called on anyone who possessed the images to destroy them immediately.

"Let's help the wounded heal their wound," he added, calling the photos' distribution "malicious and criminal".

He said the ongoing investigation prohibited him from commenting further. Police said the Saturday arrest took place at a computer repair shop in Central and that the man would be charged with access to a computer with criminal or dishonest intent.

In addition to Chen, the celebrities pictured also resemble Gillian Chung Yan-tung, Bobo Chan Man-woon and Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi.

The five suspects arrested last week have each been released on HK$20,000 bail. They included two women and three men.

Wong said the man arrested Sunday may also be released on bail.

Sin Chung-kai, a Legislative Council member representing information technology functional constituency, called on computer repair shops to carefully handle clients' data.

Still, the police's arrests in its recent investigation have made many Hongkongers worry that it is illegal to store obscene data on their computers, Sin said.

The Legislative Council's Information Technology and Broadcasting Panel will hold a special meeting after the lunar new year to ask for the police's explanation on the arrests.

Solicitor Vitus Leung Wing-hang, said it isn't against the law to store obscene data or share the data point-to-point.

It would also be legal, he said, for people to share obscene materials with adults, or upload the data to websites indicating they would contain sexual content.

"But a person would be in breach of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance if he or she publishes obscene materials publicly - such as on an open forum for all ages - as youths under 18 could access them," Leung said.