Official's blunder brings Kai Tak sports hub front and centre

You go on holiday and you miss all the fun. Two Sundays ago, while I was snuggled up in front of a crackling fire in the hill country of Sri Lanka, TVB Pearl was running a report on the East Asian Games which Hong Kong hosts in December.

By all accounts, the Pearl Report had caused a stir, simply because of the pronouncement made by an official from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, who answered a question on the proposed multi-purpose stadium at Kai Tak by saying Hong Kong didn't need one.

This has caused a great deal of consternation in the sporting community, especially the Hong Kong Sports Federation and Olympic Committee, which has taken exception to the statement.

But let's backtrack a bit to the question from TVB reporter Patrick Fok to the official.

'Cities like Singapore and Dubai and Beijing have all built centres for sports to attract major events,' he said. 'We've talked about turning the old airport site at Kai Tak into a sports hub in the past, but nothing seems to be happening. Can you tell us what are the latest developments with Kai Tak and whether or not there is a plan to turn Kai Tak into a centre for sports?'

The reply from the representative: 'I don't think it suits the needs of Hong Kong .... According to the planning standard guidelines we will provide a certain number of facilities in a small community according to the population size, so in view of the size of the population I don't think it will be good for Hong Kong.'