- The rural leader has come in for criticism over alleged links with masked men who attacked subway passengers on Sunday
- Earlier in the day he stormed out of a TV interview after a heated row with a pro-democracy legislator
A pro-Beijing lawmaker who has become a hate figure for Hong Kong's anti-government protest movement suffered a deeply personal attack on Tuesday when his parents' graves were trashed.
News of the vandalism emerged soon after Junius Ho Kwan-yiu, in hot water for shaking hands with men in white T-shirts who were accused of assaulting subway passengers in the city's north, stormed off during a live TV interview.
While police had cordoned off the site in Leung Tin village on Tuesday afternoon, pictures showing the vandalised headstones were posted on Facebook and Reddit-like site LIHKG. They showed someone aiming a middle finger at one of the graves.
Another picture showed that the graves had a profanity spray-painted on them.
The Chinese words for "Official-triad collusion" had also been sprayed on the wall behind the gravestone.
Ho's assistant confirmed the attack by unknown vandals, adding that the New Territories West legislator learned about the case at about 4.30pm. Ho reported the case to police.
After inspecting the graves in the evening, Ho, visibly upset, called on the vandals to surrender themselves to police.
"You can come to me and talk if you have issues with me," he said. "You don't have to mess with my parents' graves."
You can come to me and talk if you have issues with me. You don't have to mess with my parents' gravesLegislator Junius Ho
"I suggest you surrender to police as soon as possible. This will do you good because you have done something hated by both man and God," he continued. "If you are willing to confess, my parents and I will forgive you."
Ho had stormed out of a live television interview earlier in the day, after an opponent refused to bow to his aggressive demands to call for a halt to planned protests the following weekend.
He branded Council Front lawmaker Eddie Chu Hoi-dick a "scumbag" after he declined to make the appeal.
The pair were taking part in a current affairs programme when Ho lost his temper and pounded his fists on the table.
"You are a lawmaker who brought violence into the Legislative Council," Ho shouted. "Now you are spreading violence to communities on a scale a hundred times larger. You are an outright scumbag!"
The legislator and rural leader's departure was delayed because he could not undo his microphone.
The saga came two days after a mob in white T-shirts stormed into Yuen Long MTR station, indiscriminately attacking people with sticks and iron rods at about 10.40pm on Sunday.
Cook caught up in Hong Kong station violence as he left work recalls ordeal
At least 45 people were injured as the men attacked anyone in their path, including passengers on a train, passers-by and protesters returning from a major march against the government's now-suspended extradition bill.
Police later said more than 100 men were involved in the attack and a second one at midnight, including members of the notorious 14K and Wo Shing Wo triad gangs.
Seven men had been arrested by Tuesday evening.
Ho raised eyebrows when a video clip circulated online showed him shaking hands and thanking some of the men, dressed in white T-shirts, in Yuen Long on Sunday night. The lawmaker admitted on Monday he had dinner with some of them at about 10pm on Sunday.
While he distanced himself from the violence, he said the villagers were merely "defending their homes", and it was not a secret they had vowed to drive the protesters away from the district.
In the wake of the attacks in Yuen Long, extradition bill protesters have decided to stage a march in the district on Saturday, by postponing or cancelling planned ones in other areas.
Mainland China sentiment on protests 'may spur tougher line on Hong Kong'
After storming out of the TV studio, Ho went on to meet protesters waiting outside the RTHK building and proposed they "have a chat on August 4", but he did not elaborate on why it had to be that day.
"There are plenty of chances for you to insult me," Ho said. "Why don't we have a gathering and talk peacefully?"
Ho denied some online rumours he had, or was applying for, United States citizenship when confronted by protesters.
Meanwhile, a group of 20 young protesters rallied outside Ho's Tin Shui Wai district office, a day after others smashed glass panels and pelted eggs at his base in Tsuen Wan.
Chanting "Evil Ho harms citizens, colludes with thugs", protesters put up a Lennon Wall of stickers with phrases such as "Liberate Hong Kong" and "Revolution of our time" on them.
Five police officers arrived after receiving a call from a member of Ho's staff, although protesters had already left.
Ho's Tuen Mun office at Melody Garden was closed when dozens of masked protesters went and put up colourful stickers and notes on the gate at 3.30pm.
Separately, an online petition was started on Tuesday morning by people claiming to be from the sports community, urging the Jockey Club to revoke Ho's membership and retire his horses.
The initiators wrote in the petition that by 4pm they had collected more than 5,600 signatures and would announce further actions when the number of signatories reached 10,000.
A Jockey Club spokesman declined to comment on individual cases, but said it could take disciplinary action against a member who has infringed its rules, or has done anything that renders them unfit for membership, or is detrimental to the club's reputation.
Ho's Wikipedia page had been revised more than 70 times since midnight on Sunday, the additions including that he "is known for advocating violence against his opponents".
Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.