HK pitch packs punch

Timothy Fok, president of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, supports the SAR's bid for the 2023 Asiad. Liu Dawei / Xinhua

GUANGZHOU - Hong Kong's bid for the 2023 Asian Games would foster local sports development and bring long-term benefits to its people, according to a top official.

"We are not focusing on how many gold medals or records will be created at the games; we just want to let people from all walks of life be involved," Timothy Fok, president of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, told China Daily on Saturday.

Fok, also vice-president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), was in Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong province, for the 16th Asian Games.

"Organizing such a large-scale sports event always arouses public interest and participation in sports activities, bringing about substantial benefits to health and quality of living," Fok said.

Fok said at a September conference in Hong Kong that hosting the 2008 Olympic equestrian events and the 2009 East Asian Games proved Hong Kong has the capacity and resources to organize a large-scale international sports event.

"Based on the experience of hosting the East Asian Games, we consider that staging the Asian Games will be beneficial to long-term sports development in Hong Kong," he said.

The fifth East Asian Games was the first international multi-sport event held in Hong Kong.

"Hosting the 2023 event would boost civic pride, as well as enhance sports facilities for elite athletes and the public as a result of the government's upgrading works," he said.

The Special Administrative Region's government had earlier said if Hong Kong won the bid to host the games, it would be required to provide essential services in areas such as transport, security, media and technology and communications.

The government claims the cost of staging the Asian Games would total HK$13.7 billion-HK$14.5 billion ($1.77 billion-$1.87 billion), based on current estimates.

Hong Kong spent about HK$130 million on its venues for the East Asian Games, and only two of them were newly-built. Guangzhou spent more than 120 billion yuan ($17.3 billion) preparing for the Asian Games.

Commenting on the opening ceremony of the Guangzhou event, Fok said the Asiad has truly helped promote local culture.

"It is very rare to see the Lingnan culture so well demonstrated. The water, the Cantonese song, the flower and the sailing ship they are all very important to Lingnan culture," Fok said.

Friday's ceremony on tiny Haixinsha Island began with a popular Cantonese song It Is Raining Harder and a drop of water from the Pearl River, which helped form a picture of the culture of Lingnan - or South China.

After the Asiad's opening ceremony, Fok joined Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee on Saturday to officially announce the opening of an Olympic square in Nansha, a southern district where his father, Henry Fok, dedicated to the development about two decades ago.

"After decades of development, we should not just emphasize the (area's) economic strength, but also public awareness to improve living standards by encouraging the public to take part in sporting events," he said.

China Daily