Ugly row erupts over Miss HK obscenity claim

A war of words is raging over a police complaints council member linking TVB's Miss Hong Kong Pageant with violence, obscenity and child abuse.

Helen Yu Lai Ching-ping, a member of the Independent Police Complaints Council, had slammed the SAR's biggest free-to-air television station at the watchdog's meeting on Tuesday, saying the proliferation of sexual and violent elements on television and in movies is one of the main causes for the increase in child abuse cases.

Then she called on authorities to take action.

Yu, an 81-year-old former director of education, criticized the swimsuit question and answer session in the Miss Hong Kong Pageant - whose final is being held on Sunday - remarking that contestants wear "very little clothing."

She also questioned: "Is it necessary to answer questions in an air-conditioned room in front of Eric Tsang Chi-wai, who looks straight at you? Why do they have to answer questions while wearing a bikini? I really don't understand."

Yu was referring to Eric Tsang, TVB's deputy general manager and the host of the pageant.

She then went on to urge the Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration to review the pageant's guidelines "to see if it needs to be stricter."

Yu defended her comments and added to her comments yesterday, saying she was doing so after a police explanation on measures to protect vulnerable witnesses. She also thought "there should be more departments cooperating."

Appointed secretary of education by then chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Yu also became an IPCC member during the 2019 anti-fugitive movement. Without naming Yu, TVB yesterday said in a statement it "strongly condemns" the "malicious and false accusations [directed at] the company's senior administration."

The broadcaster also said it was unethical and irresponsible for a individual to mislead the public by linking the Miss Hong Kong Pageant with topics of child abuse, obscenity and violence, which also constitute a disrespectful and malicious slander against the contestants in the pageant.

Additionally, TVB criticized the person who did not cite similar pageants held by other broadcasters when making the comments, which appeared targeted in nature. The broadcaster said it abides strictly by the General Code of Practice for Television Program Standards.

It was on August 26 that Eric Tsang attended the broadcaster's performance conference as deputy general manager and said TVB's strength is being in the family market, and "our programs are suitable" for people from eight months to 88 years of age. He also said the content of the station's programs would not have a bad influence on children.

And TVB said yesterday it reserves the right to take action.

The 2022 Miss Hong Kong Pageant final will be held on Sunday at the Hong Kong Coliseum. The contest's semi-finals were originally scheduled for September 4, but they had to be postponed because six contestants came down with Covid before the event.

At a press conference yesterday, pageant manager Stella Ho Siu-wai said there will not be any change in the arrangement of the swimsuit session because it had been arranged for a long time.

"In fact, there is always a swimsuit session, and last time I even heard voices saying it was not sexy enough," Ho added. "Our swimsuit design includes the current fashion elements, so we don't just show 'very little clothing.'"

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu's wife Janet Lam Lai-sim is sitting on the judging panel in this year's Miss Hong Kong Pageant.

Lam is participating as chair of the Community Chest of Hong Kong.

The chest's three honorary vice presidents - Margaret Leung Ko May-yee, Simon Kwok Siu-ming and Dennis Sun Tai-lun - are also on the panel along with former legislator Abraham Shek Lai-him.

Back on September 7, 2019, Yu was slammed by former Democratic Party vice chairman Andrew Wan Siu-kin and students from her alma mater, Maryknoll Convent School, after she remarked on a radio program that "police officers do not use violence for no reason."