Horse racing brings huge community values, Government officials reaffirmed

Matthew Cheung, Secretary for Labour and Welfare of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), delivered a keynote address at the 35th Asian Racing Conference (ARC) in which he emphasised the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC)’s “sterling contribution” to the Hong Kong community.

Cheung was one of a number of officials, industry experts, administrators and business leaders who explored pivotal issues during the opening day’s plenary sessions. The three-day ARC, the third to be staged in Hong Kong and the first since 1991, has almost 800 delegates in attendance from some 40 jurisdictions across the globe.

The afternoon session heard Cheung praise the Jockey Club’s role in “augmenting, supplementing and complementing the government’s efforts in building a more caring compassionate and cohesive society.”

In his presentation entitled ‘The Role of the Hong Kong Jockey Club in Building a Caring Society’, Cheung also asserted that the Club, which is a major employment provider, has “firmly established itself as a beacon of charity and a key fountain of funding for worthy social projects.”

With government expenditure on social welfare set to reach HK$57 billion in 2014/15, representing 18.5 percent of the Hong Kong government’s total recurrent expenditure, Cheung applauded the Jockey Club Charities Trust, which has donated an average of more than HK$1.3 billion to the community every year over the past decade by way of its own initiatives and donations, supporting the projects of over 100 charitable groups and organizations each year, encompassing initiatives on community services, education and training, health, culture and sports. "It is no exaggerating to say that the logo of the Hong Kong Jockey Club is omnipresent in Hong Kong," Cheung remarked.

Michael Lynch of West Kowloon District Cultural Authority, and one of the world’s pre-eminent arts administrators, said, “the connection between the arts and racing is fundamental. In many ways, the greatest audiences on the earth are at the racetrack, and racing and the arts have so much in common - we tell stories, we connect with audiences and we attempt to connect to society in meaningful ways. I'm full of admiration for the Hong Kong model that does all of this, but at the same time makes such a huge difference to the community.”