HONG KONG – Three fingers held aloft by members of the audience at an often raucous candidates’ forum in the Kowloon East area of Hong Kong do not stand for “W” but for Albert Cheng Jing-han, who has the no. 3 spot on his district’s constituency ballot for this Sunday’s legislative elections.

Yesterday, Mr. Cheng and 10 other candidates running for five seats up for grabs in Kowloon East appeared amid a faint drizzle in a shopping center in the Lok Fu neighborhood at a forum sponsored by Radio Television Hong Kong, the government broadcasting authority. A 12th candidate, Democratic Party’s Alex Ho Wai-to, is serving six months of “reeducation through labor” in mainland China without the benefit of a trial or defense attorney. He is accused of having solicited a prostitute on a recent visit to Guangzhou province.

Mr. Cheng is a newcomer to elected politics but not to political debate. Until recently, he was the popular host of a radio call-in show, “Teacup in a Storm,” where he would routinely take on the Beijing-appointed Hong Kong government and argue forcefully for democracy in Hong Kong. Then in May, he abruptly left his show, and for a while, Hong Kong. A local magazine reported that Mr. Cheng, and Raymond Wong Yuk-man, a popular talk show host on the same station, Commercial Radio, had received threats from a prominent businessmen alleged to have ties to organized crime, claiming to be acting on behalf of Beijing. Later, a third host, former politician Allen Lee, also left the Teacup show, citing an intimidating phone call from a caller identified as a mainland official.

Now Mr. Cheng is back and favored to win one of five Kowloon East seats. The seats are determined by a proportional representation system. Altogether, there are 30 democratically elected seats in the legislature. The other 30 are chosen by “functional constituencies,” representing business, industry, professional, and other groups. Many functional constituency seats represent fewer than 1,000 people. (Representatives of functional constituencies have the same duties and voting powers as elected members from geographic constituencies.)

Even though the electoral system deliberately makes it extremely difficult for pro-democracy candidates to gain a majority in the legislature, democrats hope a large voter turnout will boost their chances, and, more importantly, reinforce their standing in political battles with Beijing. Mr. Cheng told The New York Sun that “if we have a record turnout it will demonstrate to Beijing that Hong Kong people are demanding democracy.” In April, Beijing took control of Hong Kong’s political development, ruled out full democracy for Hong Kong at the next opportunity, which is in 2007 for the chief executive, and 2008 for the legislature, and declared that it would have to approve any future changes to the system.

Mr. Cheng also said that despite his recent experience, which included the termination of his contract by Commercial Radio, he had “no choice” but to run. “The radio station terminated my contract and wants to shut me up. They want to eliminate my voice, which is the people’s voice.”

Indeed, two of the members of the audience at the candidates’ forum said they came because they were longtime listeners of the raspy-voiced Mr. Cheng and share his pro-democracy views. Ms. Lau, originally from Shanghai, said she values the freedom she enjoys in Hong Kong. Mr. Li Shing agreed saying he would be supporting the pro-democracy candidates in his home constituency of New Territories East.

However, the larger and louder part of the crowd was critical of Mr. Cheng and other pro-democracy candidates. “I think you see the supporters were mainly DAB and FTU,” referring to the pro-Beijing political party the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong and pro-Beijing Federation of Trade Unions, “and so they are pretty rough on us,” said Fred Li Wah-ming, the top of the Democratic Party’s ticket in Kowloon East.

Both groups have a strong following in Kowloon East, and a reputation for paying attention to the “grassroots.” In 2000, Mr. Li lost here to the DAB. Katherine Chan, a housewife and mother of two said she would support the “grassroots” candidates, especially those affiliated with the pro-Beijing Federation of Trade Unions. “I don’t trust the lawyer, he can’t do anything for us” she said of newcomer Alan Leong Kah-kit, a successful barrister running as a pro-democracy independent in his first legislative council race. Mr. Leong gained a popular base to run for office as a result of his work to defeat Beijing-mandated laws on national security known as Article 23 legislation. A lawyers’ group to which he belongs won the highest ranking among political groups in a July poll conducted by the Hong Kong Transition Project for the Civic Exchange. The lawyers’ advocacy contributed to popular opposition, culminating in a massive turnout for a march on July 1, 2003, which forced the withdrawal of the legislation.

By contrast, The DAB and FTU supported the Article 23 legislation, and were seen as joining in the government’s unpopular tactics, including reserving sporting grounds at the sight of the historic July 1, 2003, march to deny protesters a venue. Mr. Leong said in an interview yesterday that, “for the man in the street it is very important to be able to appreciate how the legal system and the rule of law have been affected” by recent developments, like Beijing’s interpretation of the Hong Kong Basic Law to rule out democratic elections in 2007 and 2008.

DAB and FTU supporters at the forum expressed less concern about democracy, the rule of law, and China’s role in Hong Kong affairs than those supporting members of the pro-democracy camp. Sin Ping Tong, a retired civil servant cited Deng Xiao-ping on the need for “stability and harmony.” Hong Kong, he said belongs to China so it “has an absolute right to have something to say about its political system.”

Hong Kong, he said, belongs to China so it “has an absolute right to have something to say about its political system.” Ms. Chan admitted she too was concerned about Article 23 but said “it is a fact” that Hong Kong belongs to China. Cynthia Chung, a student at the University of Hong Kong, doubts claims by groups claiming to represent the grassroots.

She says that Chan Yuen-han is “cheating the Hong Kong people” by claiming reimbursement for an FTU owned property that was not used for official business.

“She is putting herself as helping the working people but actually she uses government money to rent her own office and serve her own purposes.”

Another Democratic Party legislator James To Kun-Sun, running in Kowloon West, have been the subject of controversy over public reimbursement for renting properties used for official business. But, Ms. Chan said, “the most important issue is universal suffrage. Those who are pro-democracy will win more than those who are pro-China.”