Chong, born Grace Quek, was born in 1972 to a conservative Christian family in
Singapore, where she excelled at some of the country's top schools. While
studying law in London on a government scholarship, she was gang-raped in a
rubbish tip.
Aged 21, she went on to do graduate studies in California and then started
working in adult films. Today, she still lives in the United States, where she
is a Web designer, and refuses to talk to the media about her days as Chong.
"251" is the second biographical production about the actress, who is perhaps
one of Singapore's best-known exports.
In 1999, a US film student produced a documentary titled "Sex: The Annabel
Chong Story", which was nominated for a Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film
Festival the same year.
The film, which highlights her substance abuse and tendencies towards self-harm
and depression, is also banned in Singapore.
Loretta Chen, the director of "251", said government authorities had vetted the
script and laid down some "guidelines" that included toning down some of the
language as well as ruling out nudity and scenes that depicted group sex.
But she said the staging of the play showed Singapore's government was also
changing with the times.
"Ten years ago, this would not have happened, but with the Internet and the
accessibility of porn today, this forces the authorities to address such
issues," she said.
Chen, who got Quek's blessings, hopes audiences will come out of the play
realising that Chong was a product of Singaporean values, as well as "a person
with family, friends and feelings".
"When I started researching, I got intrigued with the idea of her being a
national hero ... someone who dared to break boundaries," she said. "The only
reason she is not considered a hero is because what she did was a sexual act
and we don't consider that to be heroic in any way."
