Chaos breaks out at Hong Kong venue

News in Hong Kong exploded late last night after a massive state of chaos broke out at infamous Hong Kong venue Hidden Agenda. Apparently Hong Kong’s immigration department raided the venue last night because the overseas band performing (TTNG) in Hong Kong didn’t come in with the proper papers to be able to perform. Once the immigration officials showed up an argument broke out and the police were called in. Witnesses say that once the police showed up the police roughed up the audience and took the band TTNG, the owner of Hidden Agenda (in the photo above) and a few other people away by force – a total of 7 people. This morning newspapers are reporting that a “fight” broke out but all witnesses say that no fight broke out, instead it was the Hong Kong police who were there being aggressive.

The history of Hidden Agenda and the Hong Kong government’s disgust in this venue cannot be more evident. The government has it out for Hidden Agenda for years yet the venue continues to fight on. This is the fourth instalment of the venue and police raids and other departments coming in to harass the venue continues. It has to be mentioned that it is normal practice for bands to come to Hong Kong without “work permits” and have almost never had an issue. This is one instance that clearly shows that the government took unnecessary steps to clamp down on a venue that they despise (just look at the number of police personnel present for this) – there is no other way to look at this besides the fact that the government wants to close this venue down for whatever reason.

Caught in the crossfire unfortunately is the UK band TTNG. The good news is that the band has since been released.