A year to remember

The year 2008 is almost coming to an end. Looking back over the past 12 months, there are quite a few Club activities that have brought us all great memories and I think it's worth looking back at some of them here in my blog. 

I'm sure the Club's involvement in the equestrian events of the Beijing 2008 Olympics this summer should have pride of place at the top of the list. It was great to see our three years of hard work and preparation paying off handsomely. Not only did we make it possible for the Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events to be staged on home ground by constructing the venues and providing the Club's professional services, we were able to help Hong Kong earn valuable publicity and high praise from overseas riders and the media for its world-class equine facilities. We have indeed made Hong Kong the Equine Capital. I know that many of you thoroughly enjoyed the experience of seeing another type of equine sport contested at top international level, and I believe the Olympic legacy will stay with us all for many years to come.

In our core business of racing, we enjoyed another successful year as our flagship international event, the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races, attracted the participation of 35 horses from 10 countries – the largest overseas team to date. The performances of our Hong Kong runners were also outstanding as they once again claimed victory in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint and Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile events.

Meanwhile on the charitable front, the Club has been very proactive this year in responding swiftly to the needs of our Mainland compatriots affected by natural disasters, notably the victims of the snowstorms in February and the massive earthquake in Sichuan in May. In both cases we provided an immediate donation to the relief work and launched public fund-raising drives, and in Sichuan we have also now committed to four major post-earthquake reconstruction projects in the medical and education sectors.

With the New Year now approaching, it's the time to focus our minds on the challenges ahead, especially in the current economic climate when all of us are affected in some way by the global financial crisis. For me, it's my New Year wish to see some of the constraints removed that are holding back the further development of our racing operations, like the HK$8 billion tax guarantee and the limitation on overseas simulcast arrangements. If we were given more flexibility in our race scheduling and better still, were allowed to arrange more racedays, we would not then need to have so many races on the card at each meeting. On this topic, I'd love to hear more of your opinions on the question of arranging 11 races for weekend race meetings. You can leave me your views and messages here.

In 2009 and 2010, we will start implementing our Racecourse Master Plan, through which we hope to bring the sport of racing to new horizons and strengthen its appeal in the highly competitive leisure and entertainment market. I believe the realisation of the Master Plan is a matter of great importance to Hong Kong, as compared with some other top venues overseas, like the recently-refurbished Royal Ascot in Britain and the modern Tokyo Racecourse, our two racecourses in Hong Kong have somewhat lagged behind. The further upgrading of our facilities will be vital to ensure the sustainable development of Hong Kong racing in the future.

In the coming year, we will also continue to play a vital role in the community's wider development by funding different projects that can help the needy, improve people's quality of life and prepare our citizens for the challenges ahead. I've lived in Hong Kong for 10 years now and I'm very proud of the Club's continued contribution to the community as the largest taxpayer and major charitable benefactor in Hong Kong.