THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1980
PRINCESS ALEXANDRA OPENS TSUEN WAN TOWN HALL
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HER ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCESS ALEXANDRA TODAY (THURSDAY) OPENED TSUEN WAN TOWN HALL - TO GIVE CULTURE A PERMANENT HOME IN THE NEW TOWN.
THE OPENING OF THE $23 MILLION MULTI-PURPOSE CULTURAL COMPLEX WAS THE FIRST ENGAGEMENT OF THE PRINCESS'S NINE DAYS IN HONG KONG.
PRINCESS ALEXANDRA, ACCOMPANIED BY HER HUSBAND THE KON ANGUS OGILVY, AND THE GOVERNOR, SIR MURRAY MACLEHOSE, WAS GIVEN A ROUSING WELCOME BY SCORES OF FLAG-WAVING PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO LINED THE RAISED WALKWAY OUTSIDE THE TOWN HALL ENTRANCE. THEY WERE FROM THE CHIU CHOW PUBLIC SCHOOL, THE HO! PA STREET GOVERNMENT PRIMARY SCHOOL AND THE HOLY CROSS LUTHERAN SCHOOL, ALL IN TSUEN WAN.
ON ARRIVAL AT THE TOWN HALL SHE WAS MET BY THE SECRETARY FOR THE NEW TERRITORIES, MR DAVID AKERS-JONES, THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS, MR DAVID MCDONALD, THE DIRECTOR OF URBAN SERVICES, MR BRIAN WILSON, AND THE TSUEN WAN TOWN MANAGER AND DISTRICT OFFICER, MR JAMES HAYES.
MR P.G. WILLIAMS, CHAIRMAN OF THE ROYAL HONG KONG JOCKEY CLUB, WHICH DONATED $10 MILLION TOWARDS THE CAPITAL COST OF THE TOWN HALL PROJECT, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE HEUNG YEE KUK, MR STEPHEN WONG, AND THE KUK'S TWO VICE-CHAIRMEN, MR LAU WONG-FAT AND
MR PETER YEUNG, WERE PRESENTED TO THE PRINCESS, AS WELL AS THE TOWN HALL PROJECT ARCHITECT, MR FRED WOO, AND THE PROJECT CONTRACTOR, MR WILLIAM SIT.
PRINCESS ALEXANDRA FIRST DOTTED THE EYES OF A LION AND A UNICORN AND WATCHED DANCES BY TEAMS FROM THE FEDERATION OF MARTIAL ARTS SOCIETIES IN THE NEW TERRITORIES.
PRINCESS ALEXANDRA THEN ENTERED THE TOWN HALL FOYER WHERE THE CHAIRMAN OF TSUEN WAN CULTURE AND RECREATION CO-ORDINATING ASSOCIATION, MR CHAN PO-FONG, WAS PRESENTED TO HER.
IN A WELCOMING SPEECH, MR WILSON DESCRIBED THE TOWN HALL OPENING AS +AN OCCASION OF HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE FOR THE NEW TERRITORIES.+
HE SAID: +TO EMPHASISE THAT THIS TOWN HALL BELONGS TO TSUEN WAN, IT WILL BE CONTROLLED BY A MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE CONSISTING OF LOCAL RESIDENTS, MEMBERS OF THE TSUEN WAN DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD, AND CIVIL SERVANTS, WITH DAY TO DAY RUNNING IN THE HANDS OF THE URBAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT.
+THE OBJECT OF THE TOWN HALL IS NOT ONLY TO PROVIDE A VENUE FOR CULTURE FOR TSUEN WAN AT PRICES PEOPLE CAN AFFORD, BUT ALSO TO ENCOURAGE LOCAL RESIDENTS TO DEVELOP THEIR ARTISTIC TALENTS. THIS EMBRACES CHINESE CULTURE AS MUCH AS WESTERN CULTURE, HE SAID.
THERE WAS A GROWING AWARENESS OF LEISURE IN HONG KONG AND IT WAS HIGHLY DESIRABLE THAT THIS DEMAND BE MET BY THE TIMELY PROVISION OF VENUES OF CULTURE OF GOOD STANDARD.
/MR WILSON