Concert by Hong Kong activist Denise Ho investigated for noise pollution

A politically active Hong Kong singer’s online concert, held in a former bookstore on Sunday, was investigated by police over noise pollution, police confirmed. The show was interrupted twice during the livestream.

Cantopop singer and political activist Denise Ho Wan-see performed the concert on Sunday afternoon at the site of the closed Mount Zero bookstore on Tai Ping Shan Street.

During the event, police cordoned off the bookstore and took down the participants’ ID numbers.

A police spokesman confirmed in the early hours of Monday that a report had been received at 5.50pm on Sunday alleging that there had been excessive noise at a concert at the Tai Ping Shan Road complex.

“Following the report, officers arrived on scene to investigate the incident and suspected that an online concert had taken place at the above-mentioned bookstore, which may have generated excessive noise that could disturb others,” the spokesperson said.

Local media reported that at 6 p.m., an hour after the show began, more than ten police officers arrived at the bookstore, cordoned off the premises and took down the ID numbers of all employees and visitors on site.

When Ho’s concert was interrupted, the live stream was moved from the stage setup to a poster inside the bookstore, where the singer could be heard asking fans to wait while staff dealt with “a situation.”

Ho was also heard asking if her ID and that of guitarist Mike Orange could be removed first so that the concert could continue as quickly as possible.

A police officer was heard telling attendees that officers had to cordon off the area outside the building due to the noise.

The incident was classified as a noise nuisance case, a police spokesman later told the Post.

After publicly supporting the protest movement in the city, Ho has suffered setbacks in securing performance venues in recent years.