2.
thinking about the arts. It was all quite, quite
different, but I think Hong Kong liked the sensation.
3.
The high proportion of Chinese in the
audiences was immensely satisfactory and encouraging
for the future. It was also a tribute to the work of the
Education Department which has been so active in
interesting schools in music and drama.
4.
Great efforts were made to entertain the
artists and make them feel at home and welcome. Against
the novelty of the occasion and the exotic setting the
treatment took, and many of them were nice enough to
become involved and to identify themselves a little
with Hong Kong.
5.
There was method in all this artistic madness
indeed from the start I regarded the Festival as of great
importance for the Colony. Hong Kong needed a boost for
its fast-growing tourist industry (12% of exports). It
needed something to counter the Lancashire-cultivated
but now out dated image of the sweat-shop and the slum.
It has become a great enough city to need something
more for relaxation for residents and visitors alike
than restaurants and shopping, mahjong and night-clubs
and the open air sports. I hope that some of this was
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