Canto-pop star Denise Ho vows to fight on for democracy despite mainland backlash

Artists face a dilemma in deciding whether to back the student protests for real universal suffrage - whether to follow their conscience or bow to Beijing, which can exclude them from the lucrative mainland market

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Denise Ho: "It is time to reconsider our priorities." Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 4:15pm, 7 Nov 2014Updated: 4:22pm, 13 Nov 2014

Wearing a black T-shirt and minimal make-up, Denise Ho Wan-see blends right in among thousands of protesters on Harcourt Road in Admiralty. For more than a month, the Canto-pop singer and celebrity has joined students camped outside government headquarters to call for an open election of Hong Kong’s next leader.

Watch: Hong Kong pop singer Denise Ho: Occupy Central students inspire me

Despite the risks for her career, she vows to stay until the end.

“Students are fighting for genuine democracy, which is what Hong Kong has been fighting for many years for,” says Ho, 37. “As adults...we must fight for them.”

Ho’s vocal support for the Umbrella Movement might turn out to be career suicide. Over the past weeks, there have been repeated calls for pro-Occupy celebrities to be banned from the mainland – including a commentary in Beijing mouthpiece Xinhua which condemned Ho as well as actors Anthony Wong Chau-sang and Chapman To Man-chak for “betraying” their motherland.

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