A live-streamed gig by Hong Kong singer-activist Denise Ho was interrupted by police citing a noise complaint on Sunday, with around a dozen officers arriving at the venue and taking down the identification details of the crew.
Ho ended up performing online after venues repeatedly shunned her efforts to book space.
Police arrived at the now-shuttered Mount Zero bookstore in Sheung Wan at around 6 pm on Sunday while Ho was performing inside for a pop-up gig streamed on her YouTube channel. Dozens of fans were gathered outside the shop.
The performance paused for about half an hour as police cordoned off the bookstore and checked the ID cards of the crew members, according to the livestream video.
Police were there to investigate a noise complaint and officers “suspected that an online concert was being held in the bookstore, which could create nuisances for other people,” a police spokesperson told HKFP on Monday. They did not respond as to how many police were deployed, from which unit, and why the area was cordoned off.
The force were investigating the organisers under the Noise Control Ordinance and the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance but no arrests were made, the spokesperson added.
Any person that creates noise in a domestic premises or public place on a holiday could be subject to a fine of up to HK$10,000. Separately, an event of “public entertainment” must be held in a place that has a licence issued by the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau. Offenders face a fine of HK$25,000 and 6 months in jail.
Ho and her musicians, including local pop producer Mike Orange, appeared undisturbed during the police investigation and they continued to perform after the saga.
She walked out of Mount Zero at around 8.30 pm, waving goodbye to fans behind the police cordon line who had stayed and watched the online gig on mobile phones, according to videos shot on the scene.
The singer later wrote on Instagram that she was proud of her “bravest team,” adding in Chinese that “it is good to try your utmost, despite the turbulence.”
HKFP has reached out to Ho for comment.
Embattled singer-activist
Ho has been struggling to make public performances following her 2021 arrests in relation to the sedition case of the shuttered online news outlet Stand News, for which she served as a board member.
She was forced to cancel a concert in September that year after the venue terminated her booking weeks before the event, citing “public safety” concerns.
Ho was also convicted in November 2022 for failing to register a legal fund for pro-democracy protesters, for which she was a trustee alongside democracy campaigners such as Cardinal Zen and barrister Margaret Ng. She has launched an appeal against the conviction.
In May, Ho held a live-streamed concert at a private location as she said she could not secure a booking at any of the city’s performance venues.
The singer, who is a Canadian national, also said she could not leave Hong Kong as her passport has been confiscated by the police pending the Stand News case.
Ho has been a vocal pro-democracy campaigner since the 2014 Umbrella Movement, when she was arrested during a sit-in that saw roads occupied, mostly around the city’s Admiralty district.
Independent bookstore Mount Zero announced its decision to close in December last year, citing a string of inspections by authorities following anonymous complaints. Its final days in March drew a large gathering of supporters to the shop, as they lamented the loss of a “free place” for liberal-minded book lovers in the city.
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