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RECREATION, SPORT AND THE ARTS
Books Registration Office
The main functions of the Books Registration Office are to help preserve Hong Kong's cultural heritage through the registration of local publications and to monitor the use of the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) system. A Catalogue of Books Printed in Hong Kong is published by the Books Registration Office in the Government Gazette, which can be accessed through the Internet, at quarterly intervals. In 2000, the office registered a total of 9 773 books and 9 410 periodicals, and 381 new publisher prefixes conforming to the ISBN were issued.
Sport and Recreation
A growing number of Hong Kong people enjoy a varied selection of sports and recreational facilities and activities. The LCSD develops and manages facilities such as sports grounds, playgrounds, indoor sports halls, holiday camps, swimming pools and beaches. It also organises training courses, sporting competitions and other activities for people of all ages and abilities, and encourages passive recreation by providing parks and landscaped open spaces. In April, the department took up the administration of subventions to camps run by non-government organisations. There are 25 camps run by 12 separate organisations receiving a subvention and about 600 000 people annually participate in the activities provided by these camps. Under the management of the Home Affairs Bureau, the Sir David Trench Fund for Recreation provides grants for building and renovating small-scale recreational and sporting facilities not run by the Government. The fund also allocates some $5 million annually for the purchase of equipment for sport and recreation by non- government bodies.
Hong Kong Sports Development Board
The Hong Kong Sports Development Board (SDB) is the statutory body responsible for the development of sport and physical recreation in Hong Kong. In 1999-2000, the board received a government subvention of $200 million, which included a contribution towards the Elite Training Programme for Hong Kong's top athletes at the Hong Kong Sports Institute. The board allocated $106.25 million to this programme in 1999-2000, to provide high performance coaching, squad training programmes, meals and accommodation, support in sports science and medicine, education and career guidance and use of training facilities to 238 scholarship athletes. The key sports in which athletes are trained under this programme are: athletics, badminton, cycling, fencing, rowing, squash, swimming, table tennis, tennis, tenpin bowling, triathlon, windsurfing and wushu. Separately, the board also provided training facilities and support to 53 athletes under the Individual Athletes Support Scheme and the Disabled Sports Elite Training Programme.
Sporting Achievements
Hong Kong athletes achieved significant success in 2000, winning a total of 78 gold, 72 silver and 73 bronze medals at their respective National, Asian and International Championships.
Taking part for the first time in the Olympic Games under the name of 'Hong Kong, China', the HKSAR sent a squad of 31 athletes to compete in the world's top sports event, in Sydney. Members of the squad recorded an 11th place in men's track cycling and sixth place in women's windsurfing.