KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 — Hong Kong’s celebrities have voiced out their concerns as the standoff at Hong Kong Polytechnic University continues with dozens of exhausted protesters remaining barricaded inside.

As youngsters defied warnings to surrender despite the police siege of the campus dragging into its third day, popular artists such as Cantopop singer and actress Denise Ho, director Alfred Cheung and actors actor Gregory Wong, Anthony Wong and Joe Cheng have spoken out for the safety of the protestors.

Ho expressed her sadness over those who were injured in the incident, saying, "they are just children. Why must they face this torture?” in a post on Facebook.

Anthony Wong, through his handle @PerryChsu tweeted "Please help HK!”.

Cheng, who was at ground zero, shared on his Facebook that he could not help the undergraduates.

"Felt like a loser, guilty, helpless. But I will not give up and will try to do my part in my own sphere. Life affects life.”

Speaking to Hong Kong daily Ming Pao, Cheng said he was advised to leave the area when police fired tear gas.

"What I can do now is to bear witness to the entire incident at the university,” he said.

The violence at the university is one of the biggest flare-ups Hong Kong has seen since protests broke out in June.