Record-breaking golf cart on a drive to help earthquake victims
A mobile library, transformed from the world's longest golf cart, will bring more than 1,000 books to quake-affected schoolchildren in Sichuan thanks to a charity scheme supported by HSBC and Unicef.
The vehicle, unveiled at the bank's charity golf day yesterday, is 6.68 metres long and has been recognised by Guinness World Records as the longest in the world.
Although originally designed as a gift to mark HSBC's fourth annual golf tournament, the organiser decided to make good use of it by transforming it into a mobile library for children in Sichuan.
It contains about 1,000 hardcover books on science, literature, fables and English, as well as a range of dictionaries.
Sandy Flockhart, HSBC Asia- Pacific chief executive, said: 'A library made of a golf cart is something quite unusual. I hope it can attract more children, who can get a book and learn something from it.'
At the handover ceremony at the Kau Sai Chau Public Golf Course in Sai Kung yesterday, Mr Flockhart and several top golfers, including Briton Paul Casey and K.J. Choi from South Korea, all made a contribution to the mini-library by donating a book.
The cart will be used by Unicef staff to shuttle between schools in Panzhihua , one of the cities that was badly hit by the earthquake.
Apart from the library, HSBC also announced it was making a contribution of HK$3.8 million, including HK$1.8 million raised from its business associates and customers, for Unicef to run a series of youth and education programmes in Sichuan.
Although the banking industry is undergoing a difficult time worldwide because of the financial meltdown, Mr Flockhart said it would not affect HSBC's commitment to charity activities.
'A lot of people at this point in time are quite concerned about what's happening in other parts of world, but we cannot stop doing what we believe and what we think is appropriate,' he said.
