Democrat Albert Ho keeps up the fight against 'dark force'
Veteran democrat says he's inspired by Camus, who saw the evil in the human condition and was condemned by both the left and the right
Albert Ho Chun-yan says he has a lot of sympathy and respect for French Nobel Prize-winning writer Albert Camus.
"I am inspired by the humanist spirit in Camus' works. I'm just an insignificant person doing what I can, struggling against a dark force that's part of the human condition - like a doctor trying to cure people in The Plague," said Ho, who recently ignited controversy by proposing a citywide referendum on democracy later this year.
The veteran lawmaker with the Democratic Party said that he also identified with Camus because of the author's moderate political views.
Camus was denounced by his left-wing contemporaries as a betrayer of Marxist ideals for his anti-Stalinist stance, and was attacked by the right wing for his support of multiculturalism in colonial Algeria.
"It's unfortunate that he was unfairly criticised by both sides. I feel a lot of sympathy for him," Ho said.
His sympathy may come as no surprise, as Ho and his party have been attacked by both sides too, with Beijing loyalists calling them traitors, and radicals lambasting them for their sometimes conciliatory attitude towards Beijing, especially for holding "secret" talks over political reform with officials at the central government's liaison office in 2010.