The Olympic equestrian events will begin in Hong Kong this Saturday, and I'm now back in Hong Kong to witness the opening of this historic event. I've spent the past few days in Beijing, where I officiated at a cocktail reception the Club hosted on Tuesday night for our overseas and Mainland guests ahead of the Olympics.
Under the theme of "Hong Kong Night", we turned the ballroom at our Beijing Clubhouse into a mini-Hong Kong. We set up a stunning backdrop of the harbourfront skyline there, and served our guests favourite Hong Kong food and snacks like fish ball noodles, roast duck and dim sum. There were also some cultural booths where, for example, the guests could have their palms read by our fortune tellers.
It was great to see more than 350 guests at the party including many IOC committee members, a number of whom told me that they were impressed by the HK atmosphere with the special food and music, and this was the best event they'd attended so far in the run-up to the Olympics. No matter whether they will be able to come to Hong Kong or not to attend the Olympic equestrian events, it's nice to see they all enjoyed an entertaining and relaxing night in Beijing.
I was especially pleased that two of our chief guests, President of the International Equestrian Federation, HRH Princess Haya Al Bint Hussein of Jordan, and the Hong Kong SAR's Chief Secretary for Administration, Henry Tang, both expressed their optimism for the upcoming games, and their belief that the Olympic equestrian events would be successful.
I share their enthusiasm and am quietly confident that these will be the best Olympic equestrian events ever staged. Although there was some disruption yesterday when Tropical Storm Kammuri skirted Hong Kong and the No.8 signal was raised, which meant the arrival of some horses had to be delayed, everything is back on schedule now. However, our air-conditioned indoor training arena really showed its worth, as outdoor training was impossible for most of the day.
I was fortunate enough to be able to leave Beijing and return to Hong Kong amidst the storm yesterday, and transiting through Taipei for another business occasion. All the time I was keeping in close touch with our Head of Racing Operations John Ridley. He has assured me that all the core infrastructure at the Olympic equestrian venues remains unaffected by Kammuri, and our staff are now doing touch-up work on some decorations that were damaged. They are a very efficient team and I believe there will not be any impact on this weekend's opening of the equestrian events.
The weather forecast shows Hong Kong is still likely to be cloudy with occasional rain for the next few days, and I hope this would not affect the smooth operations of the events. I hope all of you who have purchased tickets for the Games have a wonderful time, admiring the skills of the world's finest equestrian riders and giving your special cheers and support to our own Hong Kong team.
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