A Hong Kong political activist singer’s online concert held at a former bookshop on Sunday had been investigated by the police for noise complaints, the force confirmed, with the show halted twice during its livestream.
Cantopop singer and political activist Denise Ho Wan-see held the concert at the site of closed-down Mount Zero Bookshop on Tai Ping Shan Street on Sunday afternoon.
During the event, police officers were seen cordoning the bookshop and taking down identity card numbers of attendees.
A police spokesman confirmed in the early hours of Monday that a report was filed at 5.50pm on Sunday alleging that a concert held at the venue in Tai Ping Shan Street was emitting too much noise.
“Officers had arrived at the site to investigate the matter following the report, and suspected that an online concert was held inside the aforementioned bookshop, where there was possibly excess noise that could disturb others,” the spokesman said.
Local media had reported that more than 10 police officers had arrived at the bookshop at 6pm, an hour after the show began, cordoning off the site and taking down identity card numbers of all staff and attendees inside the premises.
When Ho’s concert was interrupted, the livestream was shifted from the stage set-up to a poster inside the bookshop, with the singer heard asking fans to wait while staff attended to “a situation”.
Ho was also heard inquiring whether her identity card and guitarist Mike Orange’s could be taken down first in a bid to resume the concert as soon as possible.
A police officer was heard telling attendees that officers would need to cordon off the area outside the building because of the noise.
The incident had been classified as a noise complaint case, a force spokesman later told the Post.
In 2022, Ho was among five former trustees of the now-disbanded 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which was set up to help those involved in the 2019 anti-government protests, including individuals arrested by police for allegedly colluding with foreign forces.
Ho has suffered setbacks in securing performance venues in recent years after her public support for the city’s protest movement.
