ENG-1980 — Page 262

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Recreation and The Arts

FUNDAMENTAL changes in the leisure habits of Hong Kong people became increasingly evident in 1980. As a response to improved working hours and the rapid development of modern facilities, all sections of the population were able to take part in a richer and more diverse range of recreational and cultural activities than ever before.

Imaginative use was made of available space, both indoors and out, for staging thousands of popular events. There were variety concerts, exhibitions and traditional Cantonese operas, performances of ballet, theatre and orchestral music often featuring inter- nationally-renowned performers.

The City Hall and the Hong Kong Arts Centre continued to be the focal points for artistic presentations and festivals, while the opening of multi-purpose facilities at the Tsuen Wan Town Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Stadium were timely events during the year. The Space Museum - first stage of the Tsim Sha Tsui Cultural Complex - opened to enthusiastic crowds in October.

Through the concerted efforts of government departments, the Urban Council, the Council for Recreation and Sport and its sub-committees, governing sports bodies and voluntary associations, greater numbers of people were encouraged to spend their free time in healthy physical, recreational and sporting activities.

To ensure Hong Kong maintains the number and quality of leisure programmes its citizens have now come to expect, more facilities are under construction or are being planned. Construction progressed on the Jubilee Sports Centre at Sha Tin and on the Hung Hom Indoor Stadium, which will be one of the finest multi-purpose indoor arenas in Asia. In addition, work began on a $26 million market with recreational facilities at To Kwa Wan; land was granted for a multi-million-dollar community and sports centre at Tuen Mun; and a further private treaty land grant was being considered for a similar sports centre at Tai Po.

The Countryside

Hong Kong's easily accessible countryside is a valuable recreational resource to meet one of the principal needs of its population. Every morning, city-dwellers walk to nearby woodlands and open spaces on the urban fringes for physical exercise; every weekend and on public holidays, people of all ages ramble across the hills and through the wooded valleys of the more remote areas seeking a relaxing change of pace.

To cater for the growing interest in outdoor recreation, provision was made in 1976 for the more scenic areas of countryside to be set apart as country parks under a new Country Parks Ordinance. Since then, 21 country parks covering about 40 per cent (40,833 hectares) of Hong Kong's total land area have been designated. They were visited by an estimated eight million people in 1980.