As an avid supporter of the Occupy Central political protest that took place in Hong Kong, Denise Ho (何韻詩) lost all opportunities of advancing her singing career in Mainland China. However, the 38-year-old singer confidently exclaimed she does not need to live off the Mainland Chinese music industry, and that protecting Hong Kong’s unique culture is extremely valuable. In order to connect Hong Kong citizens to her music, Denise plans to hold 18 concerts around the city in unique and unpredictable places. Her “18 Types of Hong Kong” will be held in old factory buildings, rural farmlands, and inside small street stores. Denise expressed, “I’ve seen things happen in different districts of Hong Kong. Whether it was the young or old generation, they all worked hard to preserve our unique culture. There was a young man who quit his job to participate in Occupy Central. Many ideas don’t immediately lead to change, but I believe change will occur as more people try!” Denise’s goal is to allow her audience to feel as if they are a part of her concerts’ performers. She exclaimed, “It’s not just going to be about me entertaining you guys. I want to convey a message!” Denise admitted that many people, including her former self, had lost confidence in Hong Kong’s music industry. She expressed, “The Hong Kong market has been decreasing in size over the past decade. Everyone, including me, branched into Mainland China. But now that I’ve lost my chance in the Mainland market, I was thinking if that means I would die? It doesn’t seem so, because I want to explore Hong Kong’s space.” Despite many claims that there is no room left for development within the Hong Kong music industry, Denise disagreed and exclaimed, “Local singers continued to thrive without the Mainland market back in the 80s, so why can’t we do that now? Before things happened, it was indeed easy to make a living there. We didn’t have to use our brains, and money came easily as long as you had three songs. But in the end, we sacrificed our basic values. We sacrificed music content and quality, because in Mainland China, your content had to match certain themes. It’s the same with their films; everything is similar. To have an industry turn into something like that is boring!” Recalling the intense evening of the Occupy Central movement on September 28, 2014, Denise has no regrets in supporting the protestors although it meant sacrificing a part of her career. She expressed, “It’s rare that Hong Kongers broke out such a will. I couldn’t just stand aside and do nothing. Some people claimed I was being ridiculous and irresponsible, but their logic makes no sense.” However, she admitted the movement was quite scary and that certain people lost their rationality. “Black turned into white, and white turned into black. Those who saw one couldn’t see the other. I can’t explain its absurdity and extremity with words.” Creds: Ming Pao
I think she is quite admirable for sticking to her guns and standing firm for what she believes in. Even if this means its stops her career from progressign at all in mainland, I think she's gained a lot of support and respect for her actions. Although equally, there are people who condemn her actions, I lean on the side that supports her for being quite outspoken towards her support for the cause of the Umbrella movement
A lot of people are satisfied with the money they have. I'm sure they've planned out savings for long term, and now she feels she's have what she needs for support. And rather take the time to try and make a change. Every country needs a change, and it's all about the peoples' voice to make it happen....well except N Korea.
I agree with her statements, and she not afraid to say what she believe in, Mainland is good for money but not really for creativity.
For the artists that always releases songs in mandarin and not Cantonese, do not forget your roots. While the money is in mainland, it's kind of stupid if you're a HK singer to have a Hong Kong concert and 90% of the songs you sing are in mandarin.
Haha dang I liked everyone's comment on here!! So true, Mainland they're only good for producing KO...glad she's sticking with her HK roots. Looking forward to reading on how she will do this concert, it's actually a great cool concept.
Yea GEM did cop a lot for singing majority Mando songs over canto songs at her concert.... but then again, it's cos she released mainly mando songs over the last little while now due to her wanting to build her presence in mainland... She's still storming/forming her presence there so I can't imagine she;l have many canto songs in the near future yet
