Since 2005, the annual Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Day race meeting has served as a way of honouring the Club's successful partnerships with non-government organisations, government agencies, academic institutions and other groups for the betterment of Hong Kong. Extending its wide-ranging support for different areas of community life, The Hong Kong Jockey Club said at this year's meeting today (23 April) that it would designate a fourth focus area for its Charities Trust donations, namely Arts, Culture and Heritage. The three current areas are youth, the elderly and sports.
The announcement was made by Club Chairman Dr Simon S O Ip to over 200 representatives from the Club's community partners who joined the popular event at Sha Tin Racecourse, with HKSAR Government Chief Secretary for Administration The Hon Matthew Cheung as Guest of Honour.
"Cultural heritage and the arts are the heart and soul of any society. No city can truly call itself a world city without them. Hong Kong is no exception," said Dr Ip. "Over the years the Club has been pleased to lend its support, building performance and exhibition venues, funding arts events and establishing scholarships to nurture talent. We will continue to do so, in particular funding arts infrastructure and also developing the capacity of those who manage, curate and perform in arts venues and who are essential to their success.
"All of these themes – arts, culture and heritage – come together in a major project funded and managed by the Club. The restoration and revitalisation of the Central Police Station compound is in its closing stages. This has been an enormously challenging task, but when it opens, under the operating name of Tai Kwun, it will be both a heritage jewel and a vibrant arts and leisure destination of which I believe everyone will be proud," Dr Ip told the guests he looked forward to unveiling this heritage conservation project to the people of Hong Kong soon.
"The Government's vision is to develop Hong Kong into an international cultural metropolis with a distinct identity grounded in Chinese traditions and enriched by different cultures. The Jockey Club has been a key partner of the Government in this respect. Meanwhile, as our community becomes increasingly aware of the importance of heritage conservation, we are most happy to see Jockey Club's active involvement in many of our heritage preservation projects. Looking ahead, we will continue to solicit support from various sectors of the community with a view to further enhancing arts development and heritage preservation. We also look forward to future co-operation and partnership with the Jockey Club to foster the vibrancy of the local arts ecology and promote Hong Kong as a cultural hub of the region," Mr Cheung said.
With Arts, Culture and Heritage as its fourth area of strategic focus, the Club aims to help build a culturally vibrant Hong Kong, thereby enriching lives and promoting social inclusion. In this regard, the Club will adopt four innovative approaches:
1. Capacity Building and Infrastructure
The Trust has funded the establishment of a number of important arts venues over the years, including The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre. To complement these venues and build capacity, it will invest in nurturing local arts talent through initiatives such as the HKJC Music & Dance Fund, the Jockey Club Opera Hong Kong Young Artist Development Programme and the Jockey Club New Arts Power.
2. Audience Building and Accessibility
The Club's aim is to introduce a wide spectrum of arts to entice the general public and thus enrich the city's cultural life, as exemplified by its long-standing support for the Hong Kong Arts Festival and Le French May, as well as its partnership with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which will bring a total of 20 world-class exhibitions to Hong Kong between 2008 and 2017.
3. Arts as a Tool to Tackle Social Issues
The Club believes that arts development can play a valuable role in empowering less-privileged communities, by having a therapeutic impact and promoting social inclusion. Programmes in this area funded by the Trust include the Jockey Club Hand in Hand Capable Theatre IncluDrama Project, and the Jockey Club Power of Music Programme.
4. Heritage Revitalisation
The Club is keen to raise public awareness of Hong Kong's intangible cultural heritage and educate the younger generation about the traditions behind it. The Trust will continue to support three of the most iconic examples, namely the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance; Tai O Water Boat Parade; and Cheung Chau Jiao Festival. Meanwhile the revitalised Central Police Station Compound, Tai Kwun will provide rich and diversified arts and heritage programmes, tours and thematic exhibitions in collaboration with local and overseas art groups, as well as related educational programmes.
Today's racing highlight was The Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Trophy. The trophy, which is about 160 years old, was donated by the late Mr Tobias Brown in recognition of the Club's charitable contributions to the community. It was won this year by Midnight Rattler, ridden by Vincent C Y Ho. Mr Cheung presented the historic trophy to Owners Lam Man Chun and Jason Tam Siu Keung.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club
The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a not-for-profit enterprise dedicated to community betterment. Through its integrated business model of world-class racing, responsible sports wagering and lottery, and charity and community contribution, the Club generates substantial economic and social value and assists the Government in combatting illegal gambling. In 2015/16 the Club donated a record HK$3.9 billion to charity and paid a record HK$20.9 billion in tax. It is Hong Kong's largest single tax payer and one of the world's largest charity donors. Committed to global excellence and giving back to society, the Club is always "riding high together for a better future" with the people of Hong Kong. Please visit 203.215.253.53.
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Club Chairman Dr Simon S O Ip says cultural heritage and the arts are the heart and soul of any society. No city can truly call itself a world city without them, and Hong Kong is no exception.
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Chief Secretary for Administration The Hon Matthew Cheung says the Government's vision is to develop Hong Kong into an international cultural metropolis with a distinct identity grounded in Chinese traditions and enriched by different cultures. The Jockey Club has been a key partner of the Government in this respect.
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Club Chairman Dr Simon S O Ip (2nd left); Chief Secretary for Administration The Hon Matthew Cheung (2nd right); Secretary for Education The Hon Eddie Ng (1st left) and the Club's Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges (1st right) at the announcement of the Arts, Culture & Heritage strategy.
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Club Chairman Dr Simon S O Ip (6th left) is joined at the HKJC Community Day raceday by Chief Secretary for Administration The Hon Matthew Cheung (6th right); Secretary for Education The Hon Eddie Ng (5th left); the Club's Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges (5th right); Director of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Professor Adrian Walter (4th left); Chairman of Board of Governors of the Hong Kong Arts Centre Mr Nelson Leong (4th right); Chairman of the Board of Le French May Dr Andrew Yuen (3rd left); Chairman of the Hong Kong Creative Arts Centre Limited William Leung (3rd right); Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council Winsome Chow (2nd left); Executive Director of the Hong Kong Arts Festival Tisa Ho (2nd right); Executive Director of The Nonsensemakers Jo Ngai (1st left) and Director of the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation Wendy Tsang (1st right).
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Toasting the success of Community Day 2017 are Club Chairman Dr Simon S O Ip (first row, 7th left); Chief Secretary for Administration The Hon Matthew Cheung (first row, 7th right); Secretary for Education The Hon Eddie Ng (first row, 6th left); Deputy Director (Culture) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department Dr Louis Ng (first row, 1st right); Commissioner for Heritage JosAc Yam (first row, 1st left); Club Stewards Lester C H Kwok (second row, 7th left), Michael T H Lee (second row, centre), Philip N L Chen (second row, 6th left), Stephen Ip Shu Kwan (second row, 7th right), Dr Eric Li Ka Cheung (second row, 5th left ), The Hon Martin Liao (second row, 6th right), Margaret Leung (second row, 4th left )and Silas S S Yang (second row, 5th right ); the Club's Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges (first row, 6th right ); Director of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Professor Adrian Walter (first row, 5th left ); Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Hong Kong Arts Centre Mr Nelson Leong (first row, 5th right); Chairman of the Board of Le French May Dr Andrew Yuen (first row, 4th left ); Chairman of the Hong Kong Creative Arts Centre Limited William Leung (first row, 4th right ); Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council Winsome Chow (first row, 3rd left ); Executive Director of the Hong Kong Arts Festival Tisa Ho (first row, 3rd right); Executive Director of The Nonsensemakers Jo Ngai (first row, 2nd left ); Director of the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation Wendy Tsang (first row, 2nd right ); and members of the Club's Board of Management.
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Secretary for Education The Hon Eddie Ng (right) presents the Best Turned Out Horse award to the stables assistant of Western Express.
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Chief Secretary for Administration The Hon Matthew Cheung presents The Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Trophy to Lam Man Chun and Jason Tam Siu Keung, owners of the winning horse Midnight Rattler.
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