LettersSports bosses’ meeting should be treated as a sales pitch for Hong Kong

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words. In December, some 1,200 delegates from 206 national Olympic committees will arrive in Hong Kong, and the city’s real test will not be the event itself. The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) general assembly is not just any convention. It’s an opportunity for Hong Kong if we want to transition from Asia’s mega-events capital to the world’s. The government has rightly framed the event as a vote of confidence in Hong Kong’s ability to host major international sports gatherings. But confidence alone should not be the goal. The more important question is: what does Hong Kong hope to achieve from hosting ANOC? For many residents, the immediate benefits are clear. Delegates will stay in hotels, dine in restaurants and support local businesses. Yet the true value of the assembly is being able to secure future opportunities, long after delegates have returned home. Many attending the ANOC general assembly are decision-makers who influence where international championships, congresses, training camps and federation meetings are held. Every conversation, networking session and venue visit has the potential to shape future sporting events. In that sense, the ANOC general assembly is less of a conference than a pitch for Hong Kong. Hong Kong must therefore look beyond staging a flawless event. The city has world-class venues such as Hong Kong Stadium and Kai Tak Sports Park. But impressive infrastructure alone is no longer a competitive advantage. Many cities possess modern stadiums and convention centres. What distinguishes successful host cities is operational excellence: efficient logistics, professional event management, multilingual services, strong hospitality and a trusted international business environment. The task for the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee, as well as the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, is to demonstrate Hong Kong’s software, not just its hardware. With Shenzhen hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit around the same period, Hong Kong has an opportunity to complement Shenzhen’s strengths in innovation and industry by showcasing its expertise in international services, hospitality and event management. Success should not be measured in attendance numbers or favourable headlines but in what happens over the next five years. How many sporting events will choose Hong Kong because of relationships built during the ANOC general assembly? How many partnerships will come out of it? How many organisations will return? Prestige may bring delegates here. But lasting economic and sporting benefits are the real prize. If Hong Kong wants the 2026 ANOC general assembly to matter, it must treat the assembly not as a celebration, but as a sales pitch. Roy Ying, senior lecturer, Department of Marketing, Hang Seng University of Hong Kong Immigration hiccup in Kyrgyzstan According to both the Hong Kong Immigration Department website and the Kyrgyzstan government’s e-visa website, Hong Kong passport holders may visit Kyrgyzstan visa-free for a stay of up to 30 days. But based on my recent travel experience, immigration officers on the ground may not all share this understanding. While my entry into Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital – overland from Almaty, Kazakhstan – was smooth, I was stopped by immigration officers in the Jalal-Abad region when I tried to leave. I was asked to produce the visa I did not have and did not need to have. But try explaining that to the officers! Most of them did not speak much English. One officer who spoke to me by phone – whom I assumed to be a senior officer – told me in English that I must go to Osh, about two hours away, to apply for a visa. He hung up before I had a chance to reply. Eventually, after about 20 minutes, the officers decided to let me go after I showed them my return air ticket. I must have looked pitiful and helpless enough. I was lucky that the officers were generally kind and clearly wanted to help me. But if Hong Kong really wants to promote tourism to Central Asia, in line with the chief executive’s call for more engagement with the region, then it must do more to smooth out operational kinks. Gloria Cheung, Quarry Bay Recalcitrant judge ought to resign Your newspaper reported that Hong Kong’s chief justice will once again reprimand a High Court judge for plagiarism, in what is “at least his seventh instance of extensive copying” (“High Court judge Wilson Chan to be reprimanded again for plagiarism”, July 23). Apparently, repeated reprimands have neither been effective nor appropriate. Are the words “dismissal” and “resignation” missing from our judiciary’s dictionary? Francis Lo, North Point

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Readers discuss the significance of Hong Kong hosting the world’s Olympic committees, an immigration hiccup in Kyrgyzstan, and a judge reprimanded for plagiarism

Readers discuss the significance of Hong Kong hosting the world’s Olympic committees, an immigration hiccup in Kyrgyzstan, and a judge reprimanded for plagiarism