Fok makes convincing case for greater investment in sport
David Beckham's eye-catching golden corn-row hairstyle could play a heady role in Hong Kong's post-Sars renaissance. The Manchester United footballer's new hairdo was used by Hong Kong's 'Mr Sport', Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, to try to convince Financial Secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung that sports could be decisive in rebuilding world confidence in Hong Kong.
'When I recently met the Financial Secretary to discuss the government's relaunch campaign, I pulled out from my pocket a photo of David Beckham sporting a new hairdo posing with Nelson Mandela, a snap shot that went around the world for the buzz this footballer created,' revealed Fok.
'I used this as an example to show Mr Leung how sport and its stars could win a place instant recognition. The Sars epidemic has been a crisis not just of health, but also of confidence and I firmly believe that sports can play a major role in restoring this confidence in Hong Kong,' said Fok, president of the Hong Kong Olympic Committee.
Fok, who is also an independent legislator for the functional constituency of Sports, Performing Arts, Culture and Publication, welcomed the government's $1 billion relaunch campaign. He urged the government to take a more long-term approach towards sports and follow the examples of major Asian and world cities that use sports as a proud symbol to rally the people, and to prove to the rest of the world that Hong Kong is back on its feet after the Sars outbreak.
'Tokyo hosted the 1964 Olympics as a statement from Japan of its coming of age as a modern nation and economic power. Seoul hosted the 1988 Olympics through which South Korea showed its emergence as a democratic society that it had put behind it its past military rule.
'Beijing is to stage the 2008 Olympics as an evocation of the Chinese conviction that theirs is a nation with a rich heritage and promises of progress. Right now two of the cities we say we wish to emulate - New York and London - are to vie for the 2012 Olympics, joining the likes of Paris and Toronto,' Fok pointed out.
'These cities have everything, right? Excitement, bustle and sophistication. Yet their citizens still crave the Games for the buzz the Olympics can generate.'
The Hong Kong Olympic Committee, with the government's backing, made a bid to host the 2006 Asian Games. It lost out to Doha, Qatar.
'When the leader of Zaire, a poor African country, was asked why he was willing to underwrite the George Foreman-Muhammad Ali fight which would cost a fortune, he replied that some countries had to wage war to get noticed and, however expensive the heavyweight fight was, it was still cheaper in lives and properties than sending an army into battle,' said Fok, using the 1974 title bout as an example of how sports could raise the profile of a place.
Fok said the Sars outbreak had galvanised people into taking a greater interest in sports, specifically in fortifying their bodies and immunity systems through exercise and proper eating.
'But we can also use sports to revitalise Hong Kong, attract tourists and generate commerce. I believe the government and the community should take a greater interest in sports,' added Fok.
