Hong Kong's top pop stars will perform at a charity concert to help raise funds for relief efforts in tsunami-stricken countries across southern Asia, officials said yesterday.
Local singers such as Nicholas Tse, Joey Yung and the pop duo Twins are expected at Emperor Entertainment Group's Sunday show, which the label said should feature its full lineup of stars.
Separately, local broadcaster TVB said it will air a fundraising special on Sunday. The lineup for that show hasn't been finalized.
Donations have been pouring in across Hong Kong, with everyone from religious groups to celebrities pitching in. Hollywood stars Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-fat and tycoon Li Ka-shing are donors.
The Hong Kong Red Cross said on Wednesday it has received 26 million Hong Kong dollars (US$3.33 million) so far.
A British citizen with Hong Kong ties died in the tsunamis that hit Thailand last Sunday. His death was the only Hong Kong-linked casualty, although nearly 400 Hong Kongers believed to be in disaster areas - mostly Thailand - have not been accounted for.
In Taiwan, humanitarian groups pushed to collect urgently needed aid yesterday, as more rescue teams joined relief efforts in countries hit by a devastating quake and tsunamis.
The provincial government said Taiwan would send at least 100 doctors and nurses to the stricken areas. A group of 11 left for Medan on Indonesia's Sumatra island early yesterday with enough medical supplies for up to two weeks.
The government said that up to yesterday morning, calls for donations from humanitarian organizations had brought in more than 20 million New Taiwan dollars (US$625,000).
The Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation said it wanted half a million of its followers to take to the streets to collect donations. The group was sending 20,000 blankets to the disaster areas and a medical team to Sri Lanka.
The Buddha's Light International Association pledged NT$3.2 million toward the relief effort, while its members in the disaster areas were already helping on the ground.
The Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps said it would send a 30-member medical team to Sri Lanka.
Other Taiwanese rescue teams have been working in Indonesia and Thailand since Tuesday and have delivered much needed aid.
Taiwanese stations showed footage yesterday of the team sawing away wreckage to reach bodies. They told reporters that they had found so many bodies in destroyed houses and under trees that they had run out of body bags.