CHINA: Albert Cheng Jing-han's morning talk radio show, Teacup in a Storm, was famous for its uncompromising verbal attacks on Hong Kong's regional government and the central leadership in Beijing, writes Clifford Coonan
The man's profile in the former British colony was similar to Pat Kenny's standing in Ireland. So it's easy to imagine the frisson of fear that crept through the territory when he quit suddenly in May, saying his office had been splashed with red paint and he had received anonymous threats of physical violence.
"What was it like at that time? It was beyond anyone's imagination," said Mr Cheng in an interview with The Irish Times. "Here I am, the top rating talk show host in Hong Kong, making tonnes of money, then I lose my contract! If anyone told me a couple of months ago that I would have that kind of pressure, I wouldn't have believed them."
Mr Cheng is standing for the pro-democracy camp in tomorrow's Hong Kong elections, the only exercise in democracy in China.
Hong Kong people will vote to see who fills the 60 seats in its Legislative Council, with the democratic camp widely expected to make strong gains against pro-Beijing politicians.
Popular sentiment has turned against Hong Kong's beleaguered chief executive Tung Chee-hwa and the Beijing government after the communist leadership ruled out universal suffrage for Hong Kong in 2007, crushing hopes for a speedy move towards more democracy. The decision prompted around half a million people to demonstrate on July 1st for more democracy.
Hong Kong's people get to directly elect 30 of the territory's 60 lawmakers on Sunday. Analysts predict they will overwhelmingly side with pro-democracy opposition figures in an anti-government backlash.
The opposition is unlikely to win a majority, however, under rules that give the other 30 seats to special interest groups such as business leaders, who tend to back pro-government, pro-Beijing candidates.
"I predict the turnout will be record breaking, over 60 per cent. The pro-democracy camp will win a landslide majority in terms of the number of votes, though not in seats," said Mr Cheng.
The Democrats are expected to take at least 26 seats, short of a majority but up from the current 22. The whole pro-Beijing camp has 34 seats, but of those only seven are directly elected.
Mr Cheng signed off back in May, then his successor quit after just two weeks on the job. A third radio DJ, Raymond Wong, claimed he was assaulted by suspected Triad criminal gang members.
The resignation of three of Hong Kong's top DJs prompted fears of threats to the promised "50 years no change" system, introduced after the handover to China in 1997, which gives the territory wide-ranging autonomy.
By any standards, this has been a humdinger of an election campaign.
Scandals have dogged politicians during the campaign, the most damaging involving a Democratic Party member arrested last month in south China and jailed for six months of re-education for hiring a prostitute.
The New York-based group, Human Rights Watch, raised Beijing's hackles with a report saying that China has orchestrated a widespread campaign of intimidation in the run-up to Sunday's polling. The report cited numerous alleged incidents, including the case of a man who was reportedly told his business would suffer if he didn't vote for a pro-Beijing candidate.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry official said Human Rights Watch had "painted a distorted picture of the situation in Hong Kong".