4th Annual Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Day highlights wide scope of Club's contributions to society

22 June 2008

The Hong Kong Jockey Club's role in creating world-class venues for the Olympic equestrian events is ''perhaps the ultimate realisation'' of the long-standing linkage between horse racing and the community in Hong Kong, Club Chairman John C C Chan said today (22 June).

Mr Chan was addressing more than 200 of the Club's community partners who gathered at Sha Tin Racecourse to mark the 4^th Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Day, an event staged annually to highlight the successful partnership between the Club and different sections of the community.

''While the Community Day is a fairly new innovation, the 'Racing for Charity' concept has been integral to our operations for many, many years,'' Mr Chan commented. "As well as donating more than HK$1 billion a year directly to community projects, the Club is a significant contributor to public funds through its tax and duty payments of more than HK$12 billion a year, and provides job opportunities to some 24,000 people. We aim to be a good corporate citizen in everything we do."

This, Mr Chan observed, was well reflected in the wide scope of projects the Club had initiated in the past year, each adding community value in its own different way. Last October, for example, it had unveiled a HK$1.8 billion plan to revitalise the historic Central Police Station compound, noting the public's growing concern about heritage conservation and the environment. In November, conscious of the social problems that had beset Tin Shui Wai, the Club had taken the decision to locate the HKJC Telebet cum Volunteers and Training Centre there so as to create 2,500 new jobs in the area. And more recently, the Club's resources had been harnessed to mobilise public support for the Sichuan earthquake appeal.

The feature race of the afternoon was The Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Trophy, a 1200-metre, Class 1 race offering the prize of a historic silver trophy donated to the Club in 2004 ago in recognition of its role as a major community benefactor. (Please see attachment for further details of the trophy)

Guest of Honour, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, the Hon Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, presented the trophy to George Lee Yuk-fai, Owner of the winning horse Skyview Bar. 

Speaking earlier, Mr Cheung paid warm tribute to The Hong Kong Jockey Club for its dedication to participating actively in providing timely and multi-faceted support for Hong Kong's evolving social welfare needs.

''Through its diverse range of charitable contributions, the Club seeks not only to address the needs of Hong Kong today but also invest in the future of Hong Kong which facilitates the promotion of a caring and responsible society,''he said.

''We are also fortunate to have many community organisations which possess the same heart and compassion to bring better quality of life to the people of Hong Kong, and which have the expertise, knowledge and network to take forward the projects and provide the services as partners of the Club.''

Other special guests at the event included representatives of Government departments, non-government organisations, academic institutions, community groups and key representatives of media organisations who partner the Club in implementing more than 100 Club-funded projects every year.

Mr Chan noted that although Club officials met and worked with each of these community partners on different projects through the year, the Community Day race meeting was the one opportunity it had to bring them all together and say thank-you for their continued support.

''It has been a busy year for the Club on many different fronts and I feel proud of what we have achieved,'' he said, ''but I am also very conscious that we could not have achieved so much without the help of a great many dedicated community partners like yourselves. Our heartfelt thanks go to you all.''