Tam Tak-chi (; born 2 February 1973), also called "Fast Beat" () in his radio career, is a former Hong Kong radio presenter, actor and currently a social activist. He was the vice chairman of the pro-democracy political party
People Power
"People power" is a political slogan denoting the Populism, populist driving force of any social movement which invokes the authority of grassroots opinion and Will (philosophy), willpower, usually in opposition to that of conventionally organis ...
.
Early career
Tam graduated from the
University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...
with a bachelor's degree in Chinese Language. In the early 1990s, under the stage name "Fast Beat", he teamed up with
Ray Chan (aka Slow Beat) hosting a radio show on
Commercial Radio Hong Kong
Commercial Radio Hong Kong (CRHK, , also known as Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Company Limited, is one of the two commercial radio broadcasting companies in Hong Kong, alongside Metro Radio Hong Kong. CRHK offers a variety of radio prog ...
known as ''Fast Slow Beats'' with help from
Winnie Yu. The duo gained popularity when they hosted ''Challengers of Fire'' on
Asia Television
Asia Television Limited (, also known as ATV) is a digital media and broadcasting company in Hong Kong. Established as the first television service in Hong Kong as Rediffusion Television () on 29 May 1957, it shifted to terrestrial televis ...
in 1997, but left the show one year later. They remained partners after joining
Metro Showbiz in 2000 until Tam quit his career as radio host in 2007 and worked at Asia Television until 2011.
Political career
Tam has been active in the social activism since then. Tam joined the
Citizens' Radio in 2009 and became an online radio show host. In 2011, he founded the Narrow Church to promote the social justice among Christian community. He also joined the
Hong Kong People Reporter, an online radio platform founded by
Stephen Shiu. He also joined the
Power Voters, a group of activists who were disenfranchised by the
Democratic Party compromise with the Beijing authorities over the
constitutional reform package and ran against the Democratic Party in the
2011 District Council election.
Tam joined the
People Power
"People power" is a political slogan denoting the Populism, populist driving force of any social movement which invokes the authority of grassroots opinion and Will (philosophy), willpower, usually in opposition to that of conventionally organis ...
in 2013 after
Wong Yuk-man quit the party. Tam Tak-chi took a leading supporting role in the
Occupy Central with Love and Peace movement initiated by legal scholar
Benny Tai. He stayed in the occupation zone in
Mong Kok
Mong Kok (Chinese language, Chinese: 旺角), also spelled Mongkok, often abbreviated as MK, is an area in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The Prince Edward, Hong Kong, Prince Edward subarea occupies the northern part of Mong Kok.
As one of the major sho ...
throughout the protests in 2014. In October, Tam refused Stephen Shiu's demand of ending the Mong Kok occupation which led to Tam's departure of Shiu's online radio platform Memehk in 2016.
On 29 May 2015, Tam was arrested for "incited others to commit illegal acts" by suggesting online that the hearse carrying the body of recently died
Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions
The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (HKFTU) is a pro-Beijing labour and political group established in 1948 in Hong Kong. It is the oldest and largest labour group in Hong Kong with over 420,000 members in 253 affiliates and associated ...
(FTU) leader
Yeung Kwong of the
1967 Hong Kong Leftist riots would be welcomed by "home-made pineapples" – a code that referred to bombs during the turmoil.
Tam ran in the elections in several levels on many occasions. In the
2015 District Council election, he ran against incumbent legislator
Wong Kwok-hing of FTU in
Siu Sai Wan
Siu Sai Wan () is a residential area in the northeastern part of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is located in the eastern part of Chai Wan, and is administratively under the Eastern District, Hong Kong, Eastern District. The population wa ...
but lost by a wide margin. In the
2016 Legislative Council election, Tam ran in
Kowloon East but finished in seventh place in a five-member constituency.
In the
2019 District Council election, he ran against incumbent legislator
Wilson Or of the
(DAB) in
Kwong Tak but lost only by a narrow margin of 187 votes.
On 24 May 2020, Tam was arrested opposite
Sogo Hong Kong in
Causeway Bay
Causeway Bay is list of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong, an area and Victoria Park, Hong Kong, a bay on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, straddling the border of the Eastern District, Hong Kong, Eastern and the Wan Chai District, Wan Chai ...
for participating in illegal assembly to protest against the
national security law.
He ran in the
2020 pro-democracy primaries for the
2020 Legislative Council election in Kowloon East and received 10,980 votes, ranking the fourth place and thus secured the nomination to run in the general election.
On 17 July 2020, Tam was again arrested, this time on charges of incitement to participate in unlawful assembly in relation to a protest in January, seditious intention, and disorder in public places. While police did not provide the grounds for the latter two charges, Tam said that they were for swearing at the police and for shouting, "
Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times". His subsequent trial was delayed due to a
High Court ruling in another case, which determined that the foregoing slogan carried secessionist notions.
On 6 September 2020, Tam was arrested again, for "uttering seditious words". Senior Superintendent Li Kwai-wah said that in speeches made across Hong Kong in the preceding summer months, Tam had been "inciting hatred and contempt against the government". Li also said that the arrest had been carried out by national security police due to initial suspicion that Tam had violated the
Hong Kong national security law, but that the sedition laws from the Crimes Ordinance under which Tam was arrested had been determined to be "more suitable" to the case.
On 21 October 2020, Tam asked the court to dismiss the sedition charges against him alleging that the colonial-era charges violate the
Basic Law
A basic law is either a codified constitution, or in countries with uncodified constitutions, a law designed to have the effect of a constitution. The term ''basic law'' is used in some places as an alternative to "constitution" and may be inte ...
. Tam also said the indictment also breached international human rights covenants adopted by the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
.
On 6 January 2021, Tam was among
55 pan-democrats arrested for allegedly violating the
national security law over their participation in the pro-democracy primaries of 2020. He was accused of "subverting state power", and was already in prison on sedition charges. On 28 February, he was charged, along with 46 others, with subversion. He sent the letter of quitting the People Power in jail on 6 December 2021 over intra-party rift.
On 2 March 2022, Tam was found guilty under 11 charges including "uttering seditious words", and acquitted of three charges. The date for the sentencing was set as 31 March. On 20 April, he was sentenced to 40 months in prison. An appeal against the sentence that Tam launched in July 2023 was rejected on 7 March 2024. On 6 March 2025, the
Court of Final Appeal rejected Tam's appeal which he had launched in January. The ruling had a bearing on cases tried under the
Safeguarding National Security Ordinance enacted 2024, which also covered sedition; several such cases had been put on hold to await the ruling.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tam, Tak-chi
1973 births
Living people
Alumni of the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong television presenters
Hong Kong male actors
Hong Kong Christians
People Power (Hong Kong) politicians
Political prisoners held by Hong Kong