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Chairman of stewards of the Jockey Club, Wong Chung-hin, has called for permission to expand the Off-Course Betting network.

Hong Kong's new Government would do well to listen to the call of the chairman of stewards of the Jockey Club for more Off-Course Betting (OCB) centres in the territory.

 In his annual report, Wong Chung-hin, who has been a self-effacing but most effective chairman in his tenure to date, called for a reduction in betting tax and permission to expand the OCB network.

 The Jockey Club's chances of getting betting tax reduced are distinctly remote and it matters little whether the government involved is British, Chinese, Marxist or Liberal. Governments don't hand money back - they take it.

 There was a depressing consistency about the previous administration in Hong Kong, which largely mirrored that of the ruling government of the day in Britain. When it came to taxes, it was easy to hit cigarettes, booze - and betting.

 Whether our new masters are any more enlightened than those departed remains to be seen but there should, at least, be a certain practicality in these matters.

 No Hong Kong Government gets any money from illegal bookmakers and Tung Chee-hwa's men and women need not delude themselves on this score.

 Illegal bookmakers continue to flourish and the exotic bets and super-efficient betting system run by the Jockey Club are the best means to combat them.

 In his speech, Wong pointed out that there was an increasing number of remote areas where OCB centres would provide a required service and punters would not be using the dubious services offered by illegal operators.

 There is no part of this territory immune to the lure of racing and the enormous coverage it gets through the print and electronic media. Without ready access to OCB centres for many members of the public, the vast publicity centred round racing merely helps bookmakers who can sit back and let the money roll in.

 Everybody loses - except the bookmaker.

 Racing as it is presented to Hong Kong people these days bears little resemblance to the fare of decades past. It is not just the quality and the competitiveness, it is also the change of attitudes both inside and outside the Jockey Club.

 If one word summed up racing and the government attitude towards it years ago, it was hypocrisy.

 The Jockey Club could provide this necessary service but it must not be seen to promote and encourage gambling. That was the official edict.

 Those were the days when literally almost every adult in Hong Kong knew a bookmaker and bet with him, not least because of the paucity of betting services offered by the Jockey Club - restricted as it was by the official government line.

 There are still those who will rail against gambling and they are entitled, naturally, to their opinions.

 But they must not delude themselves and deny what is obvious. Hong Kong people like to bet.

 Every time a well-intentioned public figure talks about the evils of gambling and the necessity to curb it, a bookmaker somewhere has a good chuckle.

 Sadly, these opponents of gambling end up as the unwitting allies of the bookmakers, the very people they abhor.

 The one huge, overriding factor that makes Hong Kong unique is the non-profit-making status of the Jockey Club and the sure and certain knowledge that money bet with them will be channelled back into the community.

 That alone should be enough to silence critics and it should certainly influence the new administration to give the Jockey Club approval to increase the OCB centre network.

 Now that Hong Kong is safely back in the fold, it will surely pay the central Government in China to study closely the racing and betting operations here.

 Last week the new Jockey Club steward, Henry Tang Ying-yen, said it was only a matter of time before racing was properly established on the mainland.

 He is in a position to give a considered opinion on the matter.

 He also drew a parallel between a possible racing operation in China and the one currently existing in Dubai, where there is no official betting.

 It would appear that the doctrines of Marx are now being ditched north of the border in favour of a more pragmatic approach to government.

 But it is surely ironic that in at least one area the Government of China still reflects the actions and attitudes of colonially-administered Hong Kong: gambling.

 Hypocrisy is alive and well in official Chinese government circles when it come to this thorny topic. It remains an official 'evil'.

 However, for better or worse, our northern brothers are no different to ourselves - they do like to bet.

 Just as our own administration should permit an immediate increase in OCB centres, so should China admit what is obvious, draw on Hong Kong's expertise in racing and betting matters and have quality racing in Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai.

 Run on the same lines as Hong Kong, it would bring enormous entertainment to the people, money through betting tax to the Government and the surplus channelled back into the community. A winner all the way.



Chairman of stewards right on the money