Strictly Ballroom with a stabbing

When I first lobbed in Hong Kong way back in the early 1990s, someone I knew roped me into doing some ballroom dancing classes in deepest Causeway Bay at Paul Bishop's sprawling dance school. Imagine my surprise a few years later when I was back there as the feature writer for the South China Morning Post's Postmagazine, on the scent of a drama that made Baz Luhrmann's sequinned epic look tame.

LIFE mirrors art. Truth is stranger than fiction. And in Hong Kong, a further general rule applies - any confluence of arty life and weird truth will quickly find its way onto the big screen.

Strictly ballroom: Or is there, in those pants?

It is almost certain that, even as you read, script writers are scribbling, casting directors are casting and celluloid is whirring as a host of low-rent Shamshuipo production houses jostle to be first to bring the twisted Terpsichorean tale of Scott Todd and Chan Ming-ming to a cinema near you.

The plot is equal parts Strictly Ballroom, sordidly bedroom and sadly courtroom; just your average boy-meets-girl, boy-dances-with-girl, boy-dumps-girl, girl-stabs-boy kind of story.

Quirky uber-waif Faye Wong would be perfect for the part of Chan Ming-ming, the tall, slim divorced mother-of-one who was quick-stepped off her feet by the oily charm of her teenage dance instructor. Perhaps Chris Bale could be tempted from television to the silver screen to play Paul Bishop, the balding dance instructor to the rich and famous who plucked Todd from obscurity in Manchester to unleash him on Hong Kong's light-footed ladies-who-lunch.

Scott Todd: Blood on the dancefloor

Lydia 'Fei Fei' Shum seems tailor-made for the role of the mystery matron named in court as Jenny Choi, a dumpy but loaded businesswoman who, dance insiders say, won Todd's affections with a fat wad of cash to bankroll his new dance school.

And for the starring role as the snake-hipped, slick-coiffed Don Juan of the dance floor, why not . . . Scott Todd? With his taste for the high-life, his smooth-talking self-confidence and talent for the tango, he seems a natural for the movie business. Let us blur the boundaries between art and life a bit further and ask him to play himself.


Now, only the dramatic denouement remains unresolved. Will Chan, convicted last week of wounding Todd with intention to cause him grievous bodily harm, be sentenced to prison or has she won the sympathy of wise-cracking Judge Chua Fi-lan? Will Todd become Hong Kong's new ballroom king, snaring the lion's share of the fox-trotting tai-tais as he rides into the sunset in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes? Or will Bishop cement his supremacy, crushing the upstart monster he created under his patent leather heels and dancing the fruity rhumba on his remains? We can but wait, breathless, as the band strikes up for the next thrilling whirl around the floor in this drawn-out and dirtiest of dances.

There can only be one: Paul Bishop, Hong Kong's
undisputed fuhrer of Foxtrot

LIFE mirrors art. Truth is stranger than fiction. And occasionally, writers blunder into some dumb luck that helps their story. By sheer co-incidence, I happened to attend several dance classes at Bishop's sprawling Academy of Dance around the time of Scott Todd's arrival in Hong Kong.

It provided an enlightening peep into the territory's ballroom dancing world; an odd oasis of swirling elegance, stirring music, mirrors, tea dances and high camp, perched above the consumer frenzy that is Causeway Bay. Though Bishop would deny it, even then there seemed an unspoken tension between the two men. The old stag, for so many years the undisputed head of the herd, now ruffled by the presence of the thrusting young buck.

Says one regular at the school: 'It's always been a bit fiery between Paul and his wife, Rozana - they were always arguing and she stormed off lots of times. I think possibly Scott's presence added to that.

'Paul is the one who's a former champion but he kept on saying things like, 'Oh, Scott's much better than me, he's much younger, he can move much better. I mean, it's true Paul is getting on a bit now, there's a bit of middle-aged spread. I know a lot of the women would want to dance with Scott. I doubt Paul would agree, but maybe there was a bit of jealousy or insecurity on his part.

'There hadn't really been a young, attractive male teacher there before, so when Scott started he sent a few hearts fluttering. The whole scene really is so Strictly Ballroom, people are always bitching about other people's dancing and, of course, there is always that sexual tension when you have bodies rubbing against each other.' Todd seemed less than impressed at having to help a bunch of beginners blunder their way through the paso doble. In his high-waisted black pants and billowing white shirt, he pouted, primped and preened, giving the distinct impression he had bigger fish to fry. Bishop, meanwhile, bellowed like a music hall master of ceremonies and whirled round the room like a typhoon, imperilling his precarious comb-over.

Todd's track record as a competitive dancer seems as pedestrian as Bishop's is distinguished. Bishop is a four-time undefeated British champion and winner of many world and European titles and has spent 18 years teaching the likes of Anson Chan, Baroness Dunn and Stanley Ho.

Todd lists among his achievements being a UK champion. However, one of Britain's most experienced ballroom teachers and judges, who asked not to be named, says Todd was a competent junior dancer but no world-beater. 'I judged him once in a competition and he wasn't bad but I didn't see him as champion material,' she says. 'I remember he had a lot of trouble finding a partner and for a young, attractive boy that seemed very strange. He certainly was not a big name dancer in England - no comparison to Paul when he was at his peak.' Bishop recruited Todd after he was recommended by a teacher in Manchester, and he joined the school in March last year. Although just 19, he was introduced to students as a 29-year-old. Todd claims putting up his age was Bishop's idea to make him seem more experienced; Bishop says he was hoodwinked by Todd.

Whatever his experience and credentials, there is no disputing that Todd was a hit from the start with the ladies. Bishop, citing advice from his lawyer, has declined to speak about Todd or the stabbing incident.

But a spokesman for the school says Todd quickly struck up a serious relationship with an attractive young Chinese female student. Within two months, he had moved out of a fully-furnished, rent-subsidised flat in Caine Road provided for him by the school to cohabit with her, amid an announcement of their engagement. Todd just as quickly lost interest, however, and moved out while his fiancee was away in Europe on a business trip.

'We believe he had become involved with someone else at the school,' says the spokesman. 'Around that time, we were warned by a couple of long-time, wealthy female clients of the school to 'be careful' of Scott. Up until then, we were perfectly happy with him.

'He was tall, good-looking and a good teacher. But right from the start, he seemed to have an eye for the main chance. Some of the women only wanted to be taught by him, and others specifically requested that they did not want to dance with Scott.' While he refused to take calls from his jilted fiancee, she deposited a tear-stained, heart-rending letter at the school, pledging her undying love. 'I cannot sleep. There are no more tears I can cry . . . maybe you just wanted to play. Maybe you just looked at me as a nightclub girl,' she pined.

It is one of a collection of such letters from various female students which turned up at the school and now sit in a 'Scott Todd' file. The file also contains phone bills sent to the school for thousands of dollars worth of overseas calls that ex-girlfriends say he made from their homes.

The spokesman says Todd began living 'the high life', frequenting karaoke bars and expensive restaurants, wining and dining a selection of the school's well-to-do clients. 'Some mornings he'd come in looking like death, and have a shower and shave at the school. Although I must say he always was tidy and well-groomed by the time he got to class.' Teachers were advised to keep relationships with students on a strictly professional basis and signed contracts explicitly forbidding teaching outside the school. Despite this, the spokesman says the school has proof that on a number of occasions when Todd called in sick, he was actually off giving private lessons.

'It was pretty dumb because some of the people were pupils of the school. One woman called up when Scott was supposed to be off sick, saying he hadn't showed up for a private lesson he had arranged with her. One time, he had a row with one of his girlfriends when he was in charge of a social night and he just stormed out, leaving all these people without an MC.

'On December 16, when he had called in sick, we found out he had hosted a big dinner at Hugo's at the Hyatt Regency for some well-known and affluent pupils of ours. We found out when one of them sent in a thank-you note for the dinner.'

TODD'S ill-fated romance with the willowy divorcee Chan Ming-ming blossomed on July 5 with a tryst at the Regal Hotel. She says later that month Todd asked if he could borrow $15,000. On August 16, she says she lent him another $15,000. 'Around this time, I heard rumours that he was a playboy and that he was younger than he said,' she told the District Court.

Paul Bishop and his crew bust a move

Todd was not the only one less than honest about his age, however. He claims the 40-year-old Chan duped him into believing she was 33. Chan staged a test of Todd's fidelity, pretending to go on a trip to Shanghai while remaining in the territory. He apparently passed with flying colours.

On August 29, she lent him another $6,000. She says he also asked her to pay the $3,500 due for that month's rent at his Chai Wan boarding house. She also bought him a dinner suit, using her credit card. Todd told the court a different story, claiming he owed her nothing. He also claimed she was the two-timer and suggested her relationship with Bishop went beyond the professional (an accusation Bishop strenuously denies).

Between August and December, the relationship deteriorated into a sporadic, on-again, off-again affair, according to Chan. Todd maintains the relationship was riven by arguing. He says the relationship ended on October 10, blaming 'cultural differences and interference from Bishop'.

Shortly after Todd moved out, Chan detected a lump in her right breast, which was diagnosed as cancerous. On November 11, a total mastectomy was performed. She did not tell Todd about the operation, merely saying that she was 'going away'. When she was discharged, she telephoned Todd, who picked her up from hospital and stayed with her until December 24, when he said he was returning to England to visit his parents. Chan says when she heard he had remained in Hong Kong, she began to call him.

From here, their stories diverge sharply.

According to Todd, he answered a call from Chan on January 20 this year at the dance school, to be told she had emptied his room at the boarding house to punish him. He discovered she had done so, and threatened to call the police unless she returned his belongings.

The following day, he was conducting private classes at the school, and returned to his room to find his things had not been returned. He left to buy a shirt and, on the way, dropped back into the school. When he arrived, Chan was speaking to Bishop. He declined an invitation from Chan to dance with her. Chan then told him she wished to return a 'plastic holder' to him.

He was about to leave when Bishop asked him to take care of the music while he went to freshen up. At the music counter, Chan joined him, putting her bag on the bench and dabbing at her face with a tissue. She called his name and as he turned, plunged a knife into the right side of his abdomen.

'I remember falling to the ground. She crouched down with the knife in her right hand and was going to stab me again. I remember I took my left hand and knocked her right hand and the knife landed on my right thigh. It looked as if she was going to stab me again, so I took her wrist and shouted for help,' he said. During the struggle, a cabinet full of dance trophies came crashing to the floor.

Chan, however, denied emptying his room and said she merely took back some shirts she gave him and a sweater she knitted. On the day of the stabbing, she called up the school to check if Todd was there, and on learning he was not, decided to attend.

When he arrived, however, she twice invited him to dance, and then came up to the record counter to ask him to return the $36,000 he owed her. He told her brusquely, 'No way' and stamped on her right foot. When she looked up, he was brandishing a knife, which she tried to push away, cutting her fingers. They struggled and fell to the ground.

To bolster her defence, Chan's barrister, Paul Wu, produced photographs of two knives in their sheaves and an empty sheaf at the record counter, all of which were of the same well-known German brand. Bishop gave evidence that when the school opened, someone had purchased the three knives, along with other cutlery, plates and cups. Bishop was unable to explain, however, why they were in a tool-box behind the counter instead of in the pantry with the rest of the cutlery.

IT is 9.20 am on July 5 and I am first to arrive in the crimson and pine surrounds of District Court 29. Two minutes later, the door creaks open and a tousle-haired woman clad in a tight black skirt and an apricot cashmere top swishes into the court room.

Her mouth is set in a nervous smirk but her eyes reflect baffled panic, like a deer caught in a hunter's spotlight. Looking confused, vulnerable and anything but a fire-spitting, knife-wielding harpy, she sits next to me in the front row of the public gallery, shooting accusing glances at my pen and notebook.

Given this golden opportunity to get an exclusive quote or two, my mind promptly goes blank. Finally, I lean over and astound myself with a searing, incisive question: 'How are you feeling today?' Chan Ming-ming utters an embarrassed cough and looks in the other direction, just in time to spot her lawyer, Helen Chung, striding into court. She is whisked away to safety and spared further such searching probes.

The court fills up with reporters and onlookers. A little after 9.30, we are standing to acknowledge the arrival of Judge Chua, chiefly famous for branding a fraud artist a 'typical male', suggesting a burglar study Tom Cruise in Cocktail as a role model, and raising the Chief Justice's ire by asking reporters not to publish a recent stinging attack on Singapore's judiciary. With her big wig and elfin features, she is making heavy weather of looking stern. She gives a precis of the evidence heard during the case, then gets down to business.

'I'm afraid I must reject the defence version of the incident and the photographs [of the knives] as being deliberately fabricated,' she intones. 'In contrast with his flashy clothes, Todd answered the questions put to him in a restrained, matter-of-fact way.' One reporter who covered the case from start to finish concurs, describing his demeanour as 'cold and controlled, although when he was pressed you could see the muscles in his cheek twitching, like he was trying hard to keep control'.

Looking daggers: Not Throstur, the robocop of Rhumba

'The defendant,' Judge Chua continues, 'is an attractive woman of good character. She revealed from many things that poured out of her in the witness box that she had become deeply infatuated with Todd. Her loneliness made her vulnerable and insecure . . . [Todd] fetched her from hospital and stayed with her through much of December, and I think this is to his credit. It must have been traumatic for the defendant to discover she had cancer, and with barely any time to mentally prepare for it, she had to face major surgery alone.' Chan, now immured in the dock, begins to dab at her eyes as the judge sympathises with this 'devastating experience'.

'I believe she carried a knife from home and went to the dance school in the hope he would turn up for the tea dance. Finally, she stabbed him.' In a statement to police given from hospital on the night of the incident, Chan recounted how Todd 'deceived me of my money and deceived me to have sex with him, and I intended to stab him to death and commit suicide.' She later claimed that the statement was fabricated and she had been tricked into making a confession, which Judge Chua rejects. 'I find Todd's version of events is supported by the medical evidence . . . he is 170 pounds on a six-foot frame to her 110 pounds. But she had the element of surprise on her side.' Bishop comes in for a pasting at the judge's hands for his evidence about the knives and for testifying that his visit to Chan's lawyer while a conference about the case was in progress, despite being a witness for the prosecution, was a 'coincidence'.

'I found Bishop a deplorable witness . . . Bishop's statement to police two days after the incident went into some detail about the debris cleared from the floor behind the counter. Significantly, there is no mention of the knives or an empty sheath . . . I think this contrived piece of evidence of the knives was thought up by him. One can only hope Bishop's unedifying display of left-footed canards indicates a lack of practice at lying in daily life.' (Bishop's spokesman says the school's principal maintains all the evidence he gave was 'truthful and factual').

Judge Chua convicts Chan, but releases her on bail and adjourns sentencing until this coming Friday. She voices her 'total sympathy' for Chan and says she is considering community service rather than prison.

NOEL Coward once quipped that 'the only thing you don't move in the rhumba is your bowels.' What the rhumba could not accomplish, however, Chan nearly did - the stabbing has left Todd with a jagged 20 centimetre scar zig-zagging across his abdomen. Several inches lower, and strictly ballroom might have taken on a whole new meaning.

In his only public comment on the case, he told a Post reporter several weeks ago that 'it happened so fast and I was just trying to get away from her. The pain was intense. The first two weeks were hell. I couldn't stand up on my own. I couldn't walk, wash or dress myself . . . I don't know if I feel angry. I would say I'm more confused. I just don't understand why she did it.' He was fired shortly after being released from hospital. Bishop's spokesman says after being discharged, Todd refused to tell Bishop where he was staying or to discuss when he would resume teaching. The school's board of directors met and decided to sack him.

He has since opened his own establishment - Scott's Dancing School - a stone's throw from Bishop's in Times Tower, Jaffe Road. Whether from laziness or cheekiness, the flyers detailing his class schedules are almost identical to those of the Academy of Dance.

'Paul and his wife feel betrayed and heartbroken over what he's done,' says the spokesman. 'We paid him well, set him up in a flat, even gave him free lessons to help him upgrade his qualifications. For less than five hours work a day, he was averaging $35,000 a month. But we don't mind the competition - he's only poached three or four couples from us.' Police who investigated the case and staff at Bishop's school maintain Todd became romantically involved with the wealthy Jenny Choi, who they say helped pay to set up his school. Chan also gave evidence in court that, on one occasion, when she was in bed with Todd in his room, Choi was knocking and whispering at the door. Todd staunchly denies any relationship with Choi, although he has been seen arriving at his dance school in a shiny, chauffeur-driven Mercedes.

THE day before a scheduled interview with Todd, at which he has promised to recount in detail his recent adventures, I receive a call from his secretary. 'Mr Todd will have to postpone the interview. He can't possibly see you. He's really very sick.' Somewhat sceptical, I arrive in the chrome and marble foyer of his school the next day anyway and come face-to-face with a decidedly robust and healthy-looking Todd. Before I can even identify myself, he turns on his heel and disappears through frosted glass doors into a well-appointed studio. Seconds later, his diminutive secretary is sent out to state that there will not be any interview - today, tomorrow or ever. 'Can you please leave. Mr Todd is not interested in talking to you.' I inform her that I will remain where I am until her boss has the good grace to at least explain his change of mind and his miraculous recovery. After several minutes of to-ing and fro-ing, Todd and an enormous sidekick burst through the door. This, it transpires, is Iceland's contribution to the ballroom dancing world - Todd's new instructor, Throstur Johannson. He is the size of - and sounds like - Arnold Schwarzenegger. 'You. Must. Leave. Please. Leave. Now,' he growls, grasping my arm in a cyborg-like claw and jabbing furiously at the lift button. Todd has not uttered a word.

The doors slide open and Throstur none too gently thrusts me inside. As the doors slam shut, I almost, but not quite, manage to resist announcing in my best Terminator voice that 'I'll be back'. You see, sometimes life mirrors art and sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And maybe, just maybe, Arnie will be available to play Throstur, the Robocop of rhumba.