One of the interesting sidelights to last week's story of the Jockey Club's frustration with restrictive government policy was the response from the Home Affairs Bureau.
Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges had been lamenting the loss of a significant opportunity for the club to become sole agent in Asia for betting on America's premier horse race, the Kentucky Derby. The reason is restrictive legislation which allows the club only 78 race meetings per year.
Operating on overseas simulcasting opportunities outside those 78 days would therefore be illegal, so the club must sit on its hands and watch as illegal operators happily take up the demand.
The Home Affairs spokesperson said: 'We need to consider whether this tallies with our gambling policy and the impact on the community, as there are voices in the community that such proposals will encourage more gambling in Hong Kong.'
And then: 'Relevant stakeholders and the Betting and Lotteries Commission will be consulted on any major proposals from the HKJC.'
I bet all those Jockey Club members, who have paid upwards of HK$250,000 for membership of this prestigious and successful club, were delighted to know that the bureaucracy identifies club 'stakeholders' outside their ranks.
They were undoubtedly thrilled to know that their personal votes, if they get one, can count for precious little in terms of the business of the club, but some unidentified anti-gambling crusader, who lives his life in the perpetual negativity of an anti position, can be regarded as a 'stakeholder' in Jockey Club business.
