IT SEEMED that two of Hong Kong's hottest stars, Edison Chen and Gillian Chung, were in Malaysia at around the same time.

But meeting each other to milk any celebrity mileage was far from their minds.

After all, Gillian is embroiled in Edison's nude-photo scandal which broke out last year, and has declared that she does not want anything to do with him.

Ever since she arrived in Malaysia on 18 Jun last week, she seemed to have carefully timed her schedules to avoid bumping into Edison.

Edison was in Bangsar on Saturday afternoon to launch his clothing store called Juice.

According to The Star, on the same day that the disgraced singer and actor opened his store, Gillian left Malaysia after a three-day commercial shoot.

She was at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 7.30am on Saturday and was sent off by several fans who gave her presents, according to the sina.com.cn Internet portal.

When asked by paparazzi in Hong Kong when she returned if she had said that she would never meet Edison again, Gillian said: 'I never said that.'

On Wednesday, she had told a press conference that he tried contacting her over MSN Messenger to mend his soured relationship with her.

Gillian said he had tried asking her over for a meal, but she said she has broken all connections with him.

Though she would not treat Edison as having been banished from her life, she felt that it was not necessary to keep in touch with him anymore.

She blocks Edison on MSN

She said: 'I've already blocked him on MSN, and I will not pick up his call either. Let's not talk about this matter anymore. Please do not ask me about him anymore.'

Gillian was in Malaysia for a shoot with two assistants. The sina.com.cn news portal said she was due to return to the country to shoot a beer commercial next month.

Last year, photos of Edison having sex with female Hong Kong stars were widely circulated on the Internet.

A Hong Kong computer technician was sentenced to more than eight months in jail in May for stealing the photos from Edison's laptop during repairs.

Chung's financial status has also been the highlight - she has only recently resumed work after a year's break since the scandal broke out.

She denied that her return to showbiz was because she is facing financial difficulties, saying: 'I still need to live and I need a job.'

When asked again if she would be more careful now, she replied: 'I've been putting on a tough front in the past. As for now, I'll pick myself up from where I fell.'

The 28-year-old singer, who shot to stardom with her Twins partner Charlene Choi, made a comeback in March as a spokesman for Tough Jeansmith. She has appeared in promotions and charities in Shanghai, Taiwan and China since.

This article was first published in The New Paper