JCADS Annual Festival encourages disabled people to participate in arts

31 December 2009

An ancient Chinese proverb says, "Everyone is gifted with a purpose".  These words of wisdom are being proved true by many local people with disabilities, as they have shown they can excel both on the sports field and in arts and culture.

Over the past six years, the Jockey Club Arts for the Disabled Scheme (JCADS) has endeavoured to explore the potential of people with disabilities through the arts.  Yesterday (30 December) saw the staging of the JCADS Annual Performance 2009 in Sha Tin Town Hall, under the theme of "Towards Excellence".  Some 120 disabled trainees from nine rehabilitation organisations demonstrated their unique talents in a variety of performances, including Chinese drums, shadow puppetry, Eight-Piece Brocade and tai chi fan exercises, drama, dance and music.  The event is aimed at giving the public a deeper understanding of disabled people's abilities in the arts and culture field.

Officiating guests at the opening ceremony were The Hong Kong Jockey Club's Executive Director, Charities, William Y Yiu, and Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Matthew Cheung.  Mr Yiu said the Club had been actively supporting local arts and cultural development for many years by funding new facilities, sponsoring arts performances, exhibitions and cultural exchanges, fostering arts education and nurturing talents.  "There are no boundaries in the arts," he stressed.  "People with or without disabilities should have the same opportunity to appreciate the arts and develop their artistic talent.  This is why we launched the Scheme in 2003.  I hope these performances can encourage other disabled people to participate in arts and cultural activities, expose themselves to various forms of performing arts and expand their horizons, so as to live a more fruitful life."

To ensure the smooth-running of the annual performance and promote harmony and integration between disabled and able-bodied people, the Club's CARE@hkjc Volunteer Team played an important supporting role, as they have done for the past three years by distributing souvenirs, monitoring crowd control and assisting the arts groups backstage.

The annual JCADS event also includes an Arts for the Disabled Exhibition.  This year's event, held in Sha Tin Town Hall from 5 to 30 December, showcased over a thousand artworks created by 800 trainees, including paintings, ceramics, crafts, puppetry, Chinese calligraphy and Chinese knots.

JCADS was launched by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust in 2003 in collaboration with the Government's Labour and Welfare Bureau, following a Trust donation of HK$27.71 million.  It aims to empower disabled people to develop their creative and artistic potential in different art forms and give the community an opportunity to appreciate their artistic talents through public performances and exhibitions.  The Scheme also helps promote inclusive arts involving both the disabled and able-bodied.  Over 6,000 students of special schools and some 1,000 people with disabilities benefit from the Scheme each year.

125th Anniversary of The Hong KongJockey Club

Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is celebrating its 125th Anniversary in 2009/10 season.  Over the past 125 years, it has become one of Hong Kong's best known and respected organisations, providing the public with world-class sporting entertainment as well as being the city's major non-Government community benefactor, now donating more than HK$1 billion a year to charitable and community projects.  It has been a part of Hong Kong through good times and bad, sharing the city's growth and development with its people, and is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for future generations.