HK Jockey Club helps rebuild quake-struck school

Zhao Qingyu presented Brian Stevenson a drawing she drew specially for him on behalf of her 1,600 junior middle school classmates in Zhongxing Town, Youxian district of Mianyang, Sichuan province.

She even said "Thank you" in English to the chairman of the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) Tuesday afternoon when he participated in the inauguration ceremony of the Mianyang Youxian Zhongxing HKJC Junior Middle School.

The school, along with homes in the area, was left in ruins by a magnitude-8.0 earthquake which struck Wenchuan county.

"Thanks to the Hong Kong Jockey Club, students who studied in prefabricated classrooms are in decent new buildings," the shy teenager said to China Daily.

Luo Meng, deputy chief of the Youxian district government, said the Zhongxing Middle School's classroom building and dormitories were destroyed in the earthquake.

"Thanks to a donation of nearly 37 million yuan ($5.9 million) from the HKJC, the schoolhouse, athletic field and library were rebuilt, and incorporating handicapped facilities," he said.

Covering 3.3 hectares, the new school was renamed the Mianyang Youxian Zhongxing HKJC Junior Middle School. It has a multimedia classroom where teachers from a sister school in Hong Kong can teach by distance education.

On Tuesday morning, Stevenson and his HKJC colleagues also inaugurated the HKJC Medical Complex at Mianyang 3rd City Hospital.

"In the Wenchuan earthquake, more than 60 percent of the buildings in the hospital were badly damaged. The HKJC donated 80 million yuan to build the HKJC Medical Complex. We also repaired and acquired medical and rehabilitation equipment for the complex," said hospital director Wang Hui.

Sichuan vice governor Liu Jie said the HKJC has given aid to seven post-quake reconstruction projects. Five have been completed and the remaining two are expected to be finished in September.

"The HKJC is most pleased to have been able to make its own contribution to Sichuan reconstruction, donating one billion Hong Kong dollars. It is the first time in the club's history that we have made such a significant donation outside Hong Kong," Stevenson said.

Brian Stevenson, chairman of the Hong Kong Jockey Club greets Zhao Qingyu after receiving her drawing at the inauguration ceremony of the Mianyang Youxian Zhongxing HKJC Junior Middle School. [Photo by Huang Zhiling/chinadaily.com.cn]