She’s the hero Hong Kong deserves, but not the one it needs right now. Art will imitate life imitating art in the upcoming film based on the “Bauhinia Heroine,” the real-life masked superwoman who — inspired by films like Kick-Ass – graced Hong Kong’s impoverished residential areas with food, cash, and cleavage.

The crimefighter’s mysterious appearance caught the interest of filmmaker Stephen Shiu Jr, perhaps best known for directing the much hyped Category III Hong Kong softcore film, 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy. Shiu is now reportedly working with leng mo Chrissie Chau to bring this story to life on the big screen. Now, courtesy of Weibo, a concept poster has surfaced, giving us an idea of what this real-life adaptation just might look like.

It amounts to a 30-minute Photoshop job at most, but there’s a lot to be amused by here: the inexplicably purple cityscape, the cash fanned out in one hand, the rice cooker valiantly held up by the other. The production designers — if you can call them that — at least seemed to have gotten the costume down pat. That’s not saying much, though, since the original costume wasn’t exactly an expensive hi-tech leather suit to begin with:

I preferred art imitating life imitating art when it was a comic.

(Photos from Hongkong Flower’s Facebook page; hat tip to Kevin Ma for the poster image!)

At this year’s ChinaJoy game expo—the largest of its kind in China—organizers stepped up their regulations regarding the show’s booth babes, better known as “spicy girls“. In accordance with a government campaign against “vulgarity” in the online game sector, the new policies prohibit costumes that show more than two-thirds of the back and ban the strategic placement of stickers on “sensitive positions.”

Last summer, the Chinese government launched a nationwide crackdown on the use of sexual imagery in advertisements in online games, giving local officials the power to force game companies to remove “inappropriate” content in their promotions. This is not the first time the government has stepped in as the self-proclaimed custodians of public morality; in fact, Reuters reports that they “once bann[ed] ‘sexually provocative sounds’ on television — but to little apparent effect.” Like it or not, scantily-clad women have become irrevocably intertwined with the entertainment industry in China.

In an interview with the Shanghai Daily, two-time ChinaJoy showgirl Zhou noted, “The length of my dress is longer than before.” According to Kotaku, previous shows have seen “spicy girls” in everything from “skin tight nearly see-thru shorts” to “game adverts placed on [their] chests.”

Defending the changes, the fair’s organizers issued a brief statement on their website:

To eradicate vulgarity and cultivate a good expo atmosphere [and] avoid a negative impact on ChinaJoy through bad activities … the commission will conduct strict checks on the number, costumes and performance content of performers at the site.

Beneath the veneer of ChinaJoy’s earnest effort to restore their good name is the reality that sex does sell. And despite the new policies, photographs from the event were aplenty with bare thighs and generous cleavage.

In fact, the planning committee went through considerable lengths to make sure the show’s “spicy girls” were of the highest quality (though we can’t really say the same about the games). According to expo guidelines, companies in the bidding to provide showgirls were required to “have at least 10 models who signed contracts” and “rich resources of models, at least over 300″.

As the folks at Destructoid so elegantly put it:

While this crackdown on “vulgarity” may have dampened some spirits all was not lost as ChinaJoy (China’s largest online gaming expo and victim of the policy) still hosted a beauty pageant for female players models and showgirls. So ‘ha’ to anyone who thought China’s edict meant a step forward for women’s rights and a move away from objectification of females.

The beauty pageant, marketed as “the most delightful platform for female players, models and showgirls for gaming companies”, reaffirms concerns that the show is more about the girls than it is about the games. As one student told the Shanghai Daily, ”To be honest, I came here largely for spicy girls. I’m satisfied with the female models for this year’s ChinaJoy… I care more about them rather than only sexy clothing.”

Of course you did. Much like how former Democratic Party legislator Chan Ka-wai visited a prostitute for a 40-minute “interview”, no?

Update: The real-life story of the Bauhinia Heroine is being made into a movie.

A recent YouTube video caught a masked female crusader distributing food and money to poor residents in the city. But in her flamboyant blue mask, cleavage-baring outfit, she seems more of a movie character than she does a real-world person. It’s not coincidental: in an interview with the South China Morning Post, the self-styled “Bauhinia Heroine” (named after the city’s official flower) acknowledged that her inspiration for the persona came from a character of the same name played by Connie Chan Po-chu in the 1965 film, Black Rose.

But there’s also someone behind the mask, a secret identity which has been subject to much speculation. Some have mistakenly proposed that the Bauhinia Heroine is in fact Wan Baobao, the mainland jewelry designer, based on their similar physical attributes and backgrounds. According to the masked woman, she is around the age of 30, was educated in the United States and England, hails from a notable family, is a single businesswoman with a six-digit monthly salary, and lives in the Mid-Levels area.

Her motive, she claims, is to call attention to the injustice of Hong Kong’s economic policies, particularly the recent case of the government’s cash handout, in which both rich and poor alike received $6,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $770 U.S. dollars). The appearance of the Bauhinia Heroine comes at a time when the city is facing a devastatingly wide income gap — already the worst in the world, according to SCMP last month:

Hong Kong’s Gini coefficient – which measures income inequality on a scale of 0 to 1, where  0 is perfect equality and 1 is perfect inequality – rose from 0.518 in 1996 to 0.525 in 2001, and stood at 0.533 in 2006, the most recent year for which data is available. The figure showed that wealth disparity in the city was the most serious in the world.

The poorest 10 per cent of families became even poorer, living on HK$3,000 a month, HK$100 less than in 2006. Families in the middle income bracket brought home HK$500 more a month last year, from HK$15,000 in 2006 to HK$15,500.

The top household incomes averaged 25.7 times the lowest last year – the highest in 20 years.

So the justification is there. But why the secrecy for this woman’s charity? ”I hide my identity because I don’t want others to say my purpose is to make myself and my family famous,” she told The Standard. Okay, fair, but why the dramatic flair? The Bauhina Heroine hopes her act – eyebrow-raising attire included — will attract journalists and followers alike and convince them to also help the poor.

All the money which she has given away is reportedly her own. So far, she’s donated $8,000 HKD (about $1,030 USD) in food and money to residents living in the districts of Sham Shui Po and Jordan, some of whom live in literal cage homes. Thousands still eat and sleep in 15-square-foot cubicles in old tenement flats, but even these meager living conditions are being threatened as real estate developers buy the properties, forcing their residents to vacate the building.

Now, the Bauhinia Heroine has even set up an account on Facebook, under the name “Hongkong Flower,” with 2,701 friends as of this blog posting. In her “About” section, she writes:

電影《Kick Ass》在美國掀起熱潮，更引發一場「真實超級英雄熱」，普通人化身英雄，救助貧苦、打擊罪案，So Fun！我的美國朋友也成了超級英雄，他也號召我加入，因此紫荊俠誕生了。我將會四出救助貧苦，既然政府亂派錢，不如等我修正，我將擇日出動，先派我的六千元……

The movie Kick-Ass set off the “real-life superhero craze.” Ordinary people changed into heroes, rescuing the poor and combating crime — so fun! My American friend also became a superhero. He called on me to participate, and thus the Bauhinia Heroine was born. I will go out and help the poor, since the government’s cash handout is a mess. It would be better for me to amend the situation. I will choose an auspicious day to start taking action, when I’ll first hand out my own $6,000 dollars…

Several we’ve spoken to have submitted the theory that this is all some kind of marketing ploy. We would be unsurprised. But we would be unsurprised if it turned out to be real, also. Bizarre circumstances call for bizarre solutions. Either way, let’s hope that the awareness brought on by this whole gimmick is not overshadowed by a mask and cleavage — which, we admit, it can easily be.

But we needn’t only speculate. If you feel impelled, take action by donating to Oxfam Hong Kong or local community organizations such as St. James’ Settlement, which focuses on providing support to low-income families and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance households in Hong Kong.

Watch the video capturing the Heroine in action below!

(via SCMP)

By all means, power to the nudists. Liberation and objectification are, unfortunately, often conflated in our commercial culture. In light of Ms. Flora Cheung’s recent decision to cook naked for Hong Kong cable viewers, we present six other recent, scandalous examples of how sex sells in Asian media.

You decide who’s right:

5. Beauty Pageant Contestants Go Topless

Some may say there’s a fine line between beautiful and pornographic. In recent years, beauty queens of more socially conservative Asian countries have challenged that delineation. When Miss Vietnam 2006 Mai Phuong Thuy (pictured above) announced she would be staging an exhibition featuring 100 “nude” photographs of herself, she defended herself by claiming that the images would be “in keeping with Vietnamese culture and tradition…[the nudity] very Vietnamese and nothing extreme.”

Though nudity isn’t banned in Vietnamese media, pornography is considered a “social evil” and strictly illegal. In one case, a woman showed 20 pornographic tapes at a cafe in southern Vietnam and was jailed for three years. The response online seemed to vary widely in tone, from lewd acceptance to outrage:

asean.asia (on AsiaFinest.com):

She’ll lose the traditional audiences and attract the prevert (sic) audiences.

Miss Universe, Miss Vietnam, Miss whatever will become an event to lure porn/nude stars, and loses it purpose to show the beauty of Vietnamese women.

If she doesn’t respect herself, why expect others to respect her.

Just look at Tila Nguyen. Do you think people have the respect for her, or look down on her.

With that said, I’ll side with the conservatives.

Lucy Nga Than (on Facebook.com):

What are these photos. They are acceptable once they are suitable for the purpose of the pics. Recently she appears too much on some online newspaper with the appearance of high school girls (sexy like a high school girl with cheap accessories, mediocre style). She didn’t show any persistent style in any kind of fashion. I’m so sad of her image recently. However, I still admire her in some aspects.

3chaisayluon (on zing.vn)

Then just shoot away!. I’ll definitely watch

Turned out the images mostly consisted of Mai Phuong Thuy semi-naked under sheer cloth. She would later auction one of the risque images for charity — perhaps redeeming her in the eyes of a disapproving public?

More recently, Japan’s Maiko Itai (pictured above) is another Asian beauty queen to receive flak for showing skin. A close runner-up in our list of contestants to watch out for, Ms. Itai was one of three contestants who decided to pose topless with body paint in last year’s Miss Universe pageant. Again, the mob had both its provocative detractors and supporters:

someothergaijin (on 3yen.com):

Body paint. Topless. Fuckme pumps. Grrreat!

Kodzina (on inesligron.com):

Knowing that she is going to win!! Love her and great video!!!!

Certainly, beauty pageants are often the stomping ground for critics to debate the standardization of beauty. Does this merely add to the commercial objectification, or does it push back against laws rooted in a repressive culture of expression?

(images via ntlam on Flickr and StyleList)

No. 4: A porn star sells you games. >>>>>>>>

When you’re presented with both sex and food, sex often ends up being the more important part of the package. Food becomes only a side dish. After all, a dinner date is only meant to be a prelude to an encounter between the sheets, and dessert, the aftermath.

So what’s the obvious marketable solution for a television show about food? Why, Hong Kong producer Jesse Au‘s upcoming cooking show on the adult channel Ice and Fire, of course!

Hong Kong men apparently refuse to cook because it’s uninteresting and a waste of time (that’s what helpers are for, obviously). 26-year-old television host Flora Cheung wants to change that: “Most men don’t like to cook,” she told the South China Morning Post, “but I want to get them interested.” Her idea of “interesting” (or the producer’s) comprises of shopping — fully clothed at first — in a market, before stripping down to a transparent apron to teach the nuances of cooking, thirty minutes per episode. Here’s a trailer of the Cantonese-language show, which can be seen on NOW TV, Hong Kong Broadband Network, and TVB Pay Vision:

Is it that outrageous to have a naked cooking show when there are already naked news reports, naked weather reports, and other naked shows that seem to cover every otherwise mundane aspect of modern society? We all know that sex sells, but how far do we go before we say enough is enough? Sure, a naked cooking show is interesting, but what’s being sold here? Turns out Cheung has no previous professional cooking experience. One would think that the audience will still be more than captivated by her cooking. Then again, you never know with men. I just might be motivated enough to start cooking for myself. Will you? More images of Flora Cheung:

(via CNNGo)