| |
SINGAPORE - When an international star chooses Singapore as the place to make his first public appearance since an ugly sex photo scandal blown to towering proportions ruined his career, there’s really only one thing a girl can to do: Stalk the guy.
In the midst of court hearings held in Vancouver for the trial of persons suspected of illegally releasing Edison Chen’s “jolly couple snapshots” the beleaguered star flew halfway around the world to grace two promotional events here on Saturday: The launch of burger chain Carl’s Jr’s 100% Angus Thickburger and sportswear label adidas Originals’ 60th Anniversary Party.
There is a certain irony in Edison choosing, at a time like this, to endorse a burger whose tagline is “Some like it long, but most like it thick” for a company whose slogan is “It’s gonna get messy”. Especially when anyone familiar with the scandal can agree that he isn’t exactly, well, “upsized”. You could tell from the size of his adidas trainers.
Long before the 29-year-old arrived at the Carl’s Jr event, the vibe of excited anticipation had gathered momentum. Crowd control measures were in place at the Bang & Olufsen showroom at the Grand Hyatt hotel, where members of the public and Hong Kong paparazzi crowded up against the glass walls.
In a storm of bodyguards and flashing cameras, Edison made his entrance, and, just as swiftly, made his exit. But not before causing a stampede of reporters and cameramen over the crash of glasses breaking.
As I watched the scramble of cameramen being forcibly restrained, one clear lesson emerged: I should not have worn my good shoes.
Though Edison was dressed impeccably and his boyish good looks were as fresh as ever, there was no mistaking the tension and weariness in his face. With public derision as well as supposed mafia threats to his personal safety, it was no wonder.
Appearing later that evening at the Timberlux Warehouse for the adidas Originals party, Edison told us that he would be donating the money he was receiving from the two events to the Jet Li Foundation. He’d done a lot of research in the past year on charity work, and wanted to “use the talents that I have and the influence, if I still have any, to get people that are part of my generation to understand that everything shouldn’t be selfish.”
Or he might have said he was taking up oil painting. It was hard to hear him above the din.
Then, Edison looked directly at me and made eye contact for a moment. Just as I was just about to smile beguilingly, I was shoved aside and trampled upon by loud, burly security personnel. They cut Edison off in mid-sentence, whisked him away into the darkness, and herded us unceremoniously out the door.
That’s when I decided I’d had it with the stalking. It just wasn’t worth the damage to my shoes. - TODAY/ar
|
