Edison Chen sports his fashion brand Clot's latest collection. [163.com]

Just one year after his public announcement to quit the Hong Kong entertainment industry due to a sex photo scandal, singer-actor Edison Chen has occupied showbiz headlines once again as he sports his fashion brand Clot's latest collection.

Several promotional photos featuring Chen were released recently on the official website of Clot. Although this is the third consecutive year that he has appeared in his own brand's ad campaign, the move has sparked speculations that the bad boy was sounding out public opinion about his return.

Edison Chen sports his fashion brand Clot's latest collection. [163.com]

The most eye-catching item of the line, a Barack Obama T-shirt which features a five thousand U.S. dollar bill with the new president on its face, is put up for sale on Tuesday with 580-HK-dollar price tag, reported the China News Service.

The pop star, who has been living in the U.S. over the year, has attended a series of unsuccessful Hollywood auditions, the agency quoted sources as saying.

Chen's latest homegrown film, Media Asia's "Snipers", is set to be released in March across Asia. It's quite likely that he will join in the movie's promotional tour in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and South Korea. Commercial performances in Singapore and Malaysia are also under negotiation, Chen's manager said.

Edison Chen sports his fashion brand Clot's latest collection. [163.com]

In January 2008, photos of Edison Chen caught in sexual acts with various Hong Kong starlets surfaced on the internet and stirred up the whole Chinese speaking world. The scandal nearly forced popular singer-actress Gillian Cheung to stop her showbiz career. At least eight people were arrested for circulating the racy photos on the internet, which violated local anti-porn laws.

Chen, a Canadian national, has refused to return to Hong Kong and will give evidence in a British Columbian Supreme Court next month for the trial of computer technician Sze Ho-chun, 23, accused of downloading and releasing photos from Chen's computer, the South China Morning Post reports.

(CRI January 21, 2009)