17
Recreation
BUSTLING Hong Kong is active night and day with people who are ever-zealous in the serious business of making a living. But these same people play as hard as they work, if one is to judge by the great range of leisure pastimes thriving in the Colony.
One of the traditional favourites, mahjong, is something which few visitors can fail to notice. When the day's work is over the clatter of mahjong tiles can be heard in shops, homes and clubs all over the Colony. But new favourites are springing up. Im- proved living standards have brought more leisure time and the means to make the most of it. Typical of recent development is the rapid growth in popularity of indoor bowling, introduced to the general public only last year.
Pride in physical fitness is seen in scores of outdoor activities from graceful shadow boxing to swimming and walking. One of the biggest sporting events of the year, the annual cross-harbour swim, attracts hundreds of competitors. This year the 55th time the race has been held--no less than 531 swimmers plunged into the water at Kowloon Public Pier to stroke their way 1,550 yards across the choppy harbour to Queen's Pier on Hong Kong Island. The winner was 15-year-old Ronnie Wong Man-chui with a time of 23 minutes 25.6 seconds. First in the women's section was 13-year-old Li Siu-wah in 28 minutes, 35.7 seconds.
Horse racing at Happy Valley attracts thousands during the racing season which runs from October to May. Golf, another sport with a wide following, has its annual moment of glory when professionals on the Far East Circuit come to the Colony to com- pete in the Hong Kong Open Championship. The 1967 winner was Australian Peter Thomson who has now held the title three times.
Almost every sport and team game is played in Hong Kong, but the one which enjoys by far the greatest popularity is associa- tion football. Fans turn up 20,000 strong at the Government
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