Breathing new life into an age-old game

The Hong Kong polo scene has been largely dormant for the past three decades, but that is about to change. So says the non-profit Hong Kong Polo Development and Promotion Federation (HKPDPF) that was set up in November to promote it as a spectator and competitive lifestyle sport.

The problems facing polo's development in Hong Kong are myriad, and HKPDPF vice-chairman Harvey Lee Chi-chung said the federation's agenda was 'long, and something to be rolled out one step at a time'. Polo was played in the 1980s and up until the handover in Shek O, but the site is now military land. Lee says the HKPDPF will approach the government to set aside land for a polo club.

Earmarking Lantau Island at the top of his 'wish list', Lee said the island had the space, and the tourist attractions and facilities, including Disneyland, beaches, hotels, hiking trails and the airport, so it would be an ideal location for a polo club.

He likened his vision of how a public polo course could be developed with the public golf course run by the Hong Kong Jockey Club at Kau Sai Chau in Sai Kung.

While he said that one public polo ground plus one or two private clubs would be enough for a healthy polo scene, he pointed out that land for a public or private club was not guaranteed. 'No land would mean no polo clubs,' he said.

Is the demand for polo in Hong Kong strong enough to warrant the government assigning land? Lee said that was difficult to assess.

'There are probably fewer than 30 people in Hong Kong who can play polo, and they mainly learned overseas. This is a very small percentage of our population,' he said. 'Anyone interested in learning to play polo would need horses, and owning one's own horses is very costly. Most players rely on horses from whichever polo club they are a member of.'