BBC News Online: World: Asia-Pacific

Sex scandal politician's singing debut

Chu Mei-feng was secretly filmed by a friend

It was the first public appearance for former Taipei City councilwoman Chu Mei-feng since she was forced from office after being caught on film having sex with her married lover.

The 40-minute tape that forced her to resign had been secretly recorded by one of Ms Chu's friends and was first revealed by a Taiwanese tabloid.

The tape has been widely circulated, even though the disgraced politician has sued both the friend and the publication.

Bestselling book

Ms Chu is now living out her childhood dream of becoming a stage performer.

She arrived in Singapore earlier this week for a series of concerts timed to coincide with the publication of a book that has already become a best seller in Singapore.

Three quarters of Singapore's population of four million is ethnically Chinese.

The country's authorities granted permission for the nine-concert tour on condition that Ms Chu's sex scandal not be discussed during her shows.

But Ms Chu did allude to the scandal briefly during the performance when she told the audience: "I have received many letters of support from Singapore."

"Singapore is the place that will give me new life," she added.

Moral debate

Earlier, Ms Chu was banned from performing in Malaysia after an ethnically Chinese political party deemed her "morally unfit".

Her performances in Singapore have sparked a morality debate, with some people complaining that she is cashing in on her notoriety.

Ms Chu's performance came less than a week after Singapore authorities fined a television station $5,479 for broadcasting an excerpt from the sex tape.

Although the scene was blurred on purpose, the Singapore Broadcasting Authority said the clips shown by MediaCorp TV were "offensive to good taste and decency".