RECREATION AND THE ARTS
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The general public is becoming increasingly aware of the importance of fitness. As evidence of this, to help to cope with the increasing demand for local recreation facilities, 1984 saw a new 'neighbourhood' fitness centre added to the existing five. This is the To Kwa Wan Sports Centre. In total, these centres provided 75 500 people with an opportunity to participate locally in various fitness and dance programmes.
In the field of dance, in 1984, the Jing Ying Dance Troupe, managed by the Recreation and Sports Service, put on 26 local performances. It also gave more than 20 performances in England at the Billingham International Folklore Festival, the Sidmouth International Folklore Festival and the Maidstone Folklore Festival.
Beaches and Swimming Pools
Swimming is Hong Kong's most popular form of summer recreation. During the year, an estimated 20 million people visited the bathing beaches and 5.9 million used the public swimming pools.
There are 38 gazetted bathing beaches: 12 are on Hong Kong Island and managed by the Urban Council and 26 are in the New Territories under the control of the New Territories Services Department. The beaches are supervised by lifeguards and have changing rooms, toilets, first aid posts, lookout towers and other facilities.
A new swimming pool complex in Lai Chi Kok Park and a new training pool at the Wan Chai Reclamation Recreation Centre were completed. The Urban Council now manages 12 pool complexes in the urban areas six on Hong Kong Island and six in Kowloon. In the New Territories, in addition to four swimming pool complexes already under the control of the New Territories Services Department, two new swimming pools were commissioned -- one a complex at North Kwai Chung, the other a leisure pool in Tuen Mun. This leisure pool is the first of its kind to be managed by the New Territories Services Department and more are likely to be built. All competition pools in the complexes are built to international standards.
There are 16 public swimming pool projects under planning, one on Hong Kong Island, five in Kowloon and 10 in the New Territories. A new swimming pool in Sham Shui Po is under construction and is expected to be completed by the end of 1985. The Urban Council regularly organises learn-to-swim classes to promote water safety. During the year, 307 swimming classes were held, attracting 8 958 participants.
Summer Youth Programme
The 1984 Summer Youth Programme adopted the theme of 'Health, Help, Happiness' and the large number of activities organised between June and September drew more than 1 000 000 participants. The events were well balanced to provide opportunities for young people and children to seek fun in recreational and entertainment programmes, to learn new skills, to participate in healthy competition and to engage in community service projects.
More than $13 million was spent on the programme, with $5 million of this being donated by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club. The balance came from the government, Urban Council, private donations and fees from participants. The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club also donated $1.7 million for setting up permanent recreation facilities for young people in various districts.
With effect from 1984, responsibility for co-ordinating the Summer Youth Programme was transferred from the Central Co-ordinating Committee for Youth Recreation to the City and New Territories Administration. With this transfer, a policy committee chaired by