Anson Chan cousin, singer activist held

Jane Cheung

Christine Fang Meng-sang - cousin of pro-democracy former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang - and Cantopop singer and activist Denise Ho Wan-see were among the former Stand News directors arrested yesterday.

As a member of a renowned family, Fang took a different path to her relatives, many of whom were doctors and lawyers - including her father and prominent bone surgeon Sir Harry Fang Sin-yang.

Instead, she went into social work, graduating from the University of Hong Kong in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in social work.

After university, she joined the Hong Kong Red Cross in 1989 and was appointed secretary-general in 1993.

During her service with the Red Cross, she supported humanitarian actions including assisting victims of the genocide in Rwanda and supporting victims of natural catastrophes in the mainland and elsewhere.

In 2001, she was appointed chief executive of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, an umbrella group consisting of more than 400 non-government organizations that provide 90 percent of social services in the city.

Fang was also a member of the Independent Police Complaints Council and Housing Authority, as well as a director of the MTR Corporation, before she retired in 2013.

Unlike her cousin Anson Chan - who was vocal on current affairs and even briefly joined the political circle as a lawmaker after her retirement as the city's first chief secretary - Fang had remained low profile and rarely made public comments on politics until she joined the anti-fugitive protests on streets on June 9, 2019.

She even spoke on the stage in an assembly on June 14, 2019 - two days after protesters besieged the Legislative Council complex in Tamar - when she expressed support of the protests but said they should remain peaceful.

In an interview with pro-democracy online media outlet Citizen News the month after the protesters rampaged the Legco building, Fang said she understood the youngsters and that they did not mean to vandalize, but to make a statement on "the broken constitution."

Quite the opposite of Fang, singer Ho has made a name for herself internationally as well as at home with her participation in many protests. An administrator of Ho's social media account posted yesterday that Ho was fine and that she asked people who care about her not to worry.

Ho first rose to fame for her hit albums in the early 2000s before becoming prominently vocal on political issues during Occupy Central in 2014, in which she actively participated and was among the activists who stayed until the police clearance. She was arrested for illegal assembly and obstructing a police officer but no charges were pressed against her.

But the mainland blacklisted her and in 2016 international beauty brand Lancome canceled a concert campaign with Ho after it had received heavy criticism from state media Global Times and mainland netizens.

In recent years, Ho - who was born in Hong Kong but grew up in Canada - has spoken in the United Nations and the United States Congress about democracy in the SAR.

She was also one of the trustees of the suspended 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund established in 2019 to help arrested protesters. The fund ceased operations in October.

Another trustee of the fund was barrister and former lawmaker Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, who was another former Stand News director arrested yesterday.