Flanked by monotone high-rises and a crammed shopping mall, the Vietnamese restaurant Ho Loy has chosen for an interview seems an unlikely venue. Although alfresco, it is in the heart of Kwai Fong's busiest housing estate, with wall-to-wall concrete broken up only by the occasional plastic palm tree.
'Why can't they just have real trees?' hisses the long-time resident of Lantau, admitting a disdain for city dwelling despite her palpable passion for Hong Kong's urban icons. It is a zeal that has landed the 41-year-old single mother and community website editor on the front page of most Hong Kong newspapers and, for a brief period, in jail.
In June, Ho was ordered to perform 120 hours of community service after she pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal damage that stemmed from a December protest against the destruction of the Central Star Ferry pier. The demonstration was the culmination of an emotional outpouring rarely seen in Hong Kong, and Ho has become a poster child for the city's new-found activism on quality-of-life issues such as the environment, town planning and heritage. A slew of campaigns to preserve historical sites, clear the skies and curb reclamation are increasingly sharing the headlines with long-running social, economic and political issues such as inequality, discrimination and democratic development.
Ho's crusade to save the Star Ferry pier catapulted her from obscurity to near celebrity status and a political career now beckons. At the top of her agenda is whether to run for a district council seat. 'I hated politics,' she says. 'I never thought I would go into it.' That she is now considering making it a career is a sea change she attributes partly to circumstances and partly to the responsibility she feels as a mother.
A former dancer, Ho first put herself in the public arena when she set up a community newspaper on Lantau. Forced to deal with readers and clients, she found herself speaking out, notably on environmental issues close to her heart, such as the water buffalo facing removal from the island by villagers. She also baulked at development plans that would see the island become a tourism magnet. The Disneyland project likewise jarred. 'All of these frustrations were building up,' she says. 'The government was using public money to develop something they never asked the public about.'
Raising a child made her more outspoken. 'I know everything is affecting how my child is growing and her future. It came to a point where I had to make things change. Being a parent, I couldn't stand my child living the way we did before,' she explains. 'In the past it was about Hong Kong booming economically, about population growth and how we put up with each other, about how fast you see things change in your life. I don't want my daughter to grow into what I know Hong Kong people are now. There are people who have a heart, but we are suffering from the lifestyle we have here.'
When Ho decided to take a stand against the demolition of the 48-year-old Central pier, she had no idea where it would lead. A 24-hour sit-in she staged soon took on a life of its own. 'I didn't expect it would turn out so big,' she says. 'I stayed one night and then had to take care of my daughter, so another two people took over.' The sit-in continued until she returned the following weekend. She would be back at the site every Sunday for about nine weeks.
