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#Culture #Solidarity #Cantopop
Concert Tickets sold out in 2 minutes, Hong Kong pro-democracy singer #DeniseHO: every chance can be the last chance

Denise HO Wan Si, a Hong Kong popular pro-democracy singer, will have her 7-show concert in September at the Hong Kong Art Centre.

A total of 2,000 tickets were sold out within 2 minutes on 23 August, 2021. HO thanked all her fans in Facebook, "I will honor my soul to give a hug to each and every of you".

On the next day of HO's announcing her concert earlier, HO's closed fellow from the Hong Kong Shield Anthony WONG Yiu Ming, another popular pro-democracy singer, had been arrested for offence of "misconduct in election". Some fans of HO had commented on her social media pages asking her to "leave". HO thus shared her thought, "no one will know what's happening in the next second; in this messy age, we should be firm with ourself and our belief, don't be influenced by tons of things pass-by."

#hongkong #howansi #AnthonyWong #Conscience #hongkongshield #concert #belief

Source: Stand News #Aug13

https://bit.ly/37OadsJ
#PopMusic #Censorship
Top Ranking Song Mocking Chinese nationalists Banned in China and Delisted from HK-based streaming app


Malaysian rapper #Namewee and Taiwan-based Australian singer #KimberlyChen Fang-yu rolled out a Mandopop song titled "#Fragile" (玻璃心, or literally meaning "#GlassHeart"), on Youtube in mid-October 2021.

The term "glass heart" is commonly used to describe nationalist Chinese netizens who become easily upset when a social media post attacks the Chinese Comminist Party (#CCP).

While the song can be interpreted as a love song, the music video satirizes the CCP and nationalist Chinese netizens
(aka "#LittlePinks") through the extensive use of the color pink, simplified Chinese subtitles, and a giant and clumsy panda.

References are made to China's claims to Taiwan, bat soup representing COVID19, the Great Firewall, and #XiJingping's latest political campaign Common Prosperity.

The song hit the internet with an overwhelming popularity, receiving over 10 million Youtube views in just first few days.

The pro-China netizens criticized the lyrics for "inflicting insults on China", leading to both the ban of the singers in China and the removal of their #Weibo accounts.

In response, Namewee wrote on his Facebook page pointing out that the song has reflected a general trend as more people are realizing CCP's oppression and encroachment. The artist said, "[this song is] not so amazing, it's just a mirror."

Commenting on the freedom of expression in artistic creation, Namewee said, "If I have to give up creative freedom and my ideals, this goes against any artististic pursuit.  I would rather stop creating."

Namewee added in his comment that with the growing number of supporters, he would consider leveraging their influence to resist and protest against authoritarianism.

He said, "I believe if one remains silent in the face of iron fist, it would foster and reinforce them [authoritarianism]. Until one day, the iron fist hits your head as it spares no one."

On October 27, 2011, the Hong Kong-based music app, #MOOV, was found delisted the song from its app. Netizens slammed the music app, calling it "#FragileMOOV".

Source: Stand News #Oct25; as1 entertainment #Oct27

https://thestandnews.page.link/v8e74czAgLL9oV6Z8/

#PopCulture #PopSong #MandoPop #MOOV #Delist #Creativity #Art #Culture #MusicVideo #Ban
Hongkongers' Book Fair Cancelled, but Presses On with Online Store: "We'd Rather Be Naive than Give Up"

The annual Hong Kong Book Fair is set to take place in late July this year. However, many books that had political undertones or highlighted local culture had been banned from the book fair by local the government's Trade Development Council, who refused to explain the ban or give a list of exhibitors that they have turned away.

In light of this, local publisher Hillway Culture partnered with other like-minded exhibitors to organize the first-ever "Hongkongers' Book Fair," set to take place on July 14 in Causeway Bay.

The day before the fair was set to take place, however, the organizers received a notice from the venue owner saying that the book fair may be in breach of the fair's lease agreement, and they may need to terminate the lease, explained Hillway Culture's spokesperson Raymond Yeung during a press conference on the same afternoon.

Yeung explained in tears that he had expected all kinds of unexpected complaints against the book fair, including fire ordinances, anti-pandemic ordinances, or even the #NationalSecurityLaw. They had expressed willingness to fully cooperate with the venue owners, only so that #Hongkongers can have a book fair that belonged to themselves.

A journalist at the press conference mentioned that the pro-Beijing group "Politihk Social Strategic" had called on citizens to visit the book fair and "inspect the books for law violations". Plain-clothes officers were also said to have visited the venue, and inquired about the fair at the mall's management office.

By 9pm, the organizers announced that the venue owner had terminated the lease. The owner claimed that the book fair violated the venue's usage agreement by "sub-letting" booths to exhibitors - despite the venue having been previously used to host bazaars in a similar setup. The owner had even provided photos and promoted contractors who had previously provided booth setup works. Though the fair organizers expressed that they were willing to make any adjustments necessary, the owners insisted on terminating the contract, forcing the event to be cancelled.

News of the sudden shutdown was met with quick responses from Hongkongers who looked forward to the book fair. Many commenters pledged not to refund their VIP tickets and to visit the participating bookstores. In a subsequent Facebook post, the organizers thanked Hongkongers for their "encouragements, comfort, affirmations, and suggestions. This is an unexpected gift that came after such terrible news."

The organizers have continued on with the online version of the book fair, letting Hongkongers everywhere participate despite the lack of a physical venue. They had also secured a distributor in Manchester to ship out orders made in the UK.

Borrowing a quote from the participating Boundary Bookstore, the organizers wrote: "You can mock our naivete for staying behind, but we'd rather be naive than give up."

Source: #FirstHand #Jul13

Hongkongers' Book Fair Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/hkersbookfair/

#HKersBookFair #Suppression #Culture #BookBanning