ENG-2006 — Page 474

398 Recreation, Sport and the Arts

2006 was an important and busy year for coaches and athletes who attended numerous world championships and qualifying competitions for the Paralympic Games. Some of the athletes have already qualified for the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. At the 9th FESPIC Games, athletes won a total of 58 medals comprising 17 gold, 22 silver, 19 bronze placing Hong Kong, China seventh in the list of 47 participating countries and territories in the medals tally. In the past year, HKPC&SAPD achieved impressive results in the international sporting arena by winning a total of 111 medals in international competitions, garnering 44 gold, 30 silver and 37 bronze medals.

The Hong Kong Sports Association for the Mentally Handicapped develops, promotes and organises sporting activities for people with intellectual disability in order to fully develop their potential in sports, and to cultivate positive attitudes in sportsmanship as well as to facilitate their integration into the community. The association provides sports training and competitions for more than 40 000 handicapped people, and through the years has been steadily developing a training. programme to cater to all levels of ability.

Athletes took part in numerous international competitions during the year and made the most of these opportunities to sharpen their skills. Highlights included the 3rd INAS-FID Open European Table Tennis Championships in Portugal, where Hong Kong won gold medals in all of the three women's events; the tour of Hungary where the Hong Kong team won 11 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze medals in the 3rd INAS-FID Open European Championships in Swimming; the German Open Championships in Swimming; where Hong Kong won 13 gold, 11 silver and 7 bronze medals and the 9th FESPIC Games in Malaysia where Hong Kong carried off eight gold, eight silver and five bronze medals.

Among the other competitions in which athletes competed successfully were 4th National Special Olympics Games, the 2006 Special Olympics Shanghai Invitational Games, the 2006 Special Olympics East Asia Golf Competition and the 2006 Special Olympics East Asia Bocce Competition. A total of 323 medals, with 137 gold, 113 silver and 73 bronze were won by the intellectually disabled athletes during the year.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club

Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club has become one of the world's largest and most respected racing organisations. It is Hong Kong's only authorised operator of horse racing, running racecourses at Happy Valley and Sha Tin as well as three public riding schools. The club also operates the Mark Six lottery and offers betting on overseas football matches.

The club is Hong Kong's largest single taxpayer, contributing $12.41 billion to the public purse in the 2005-06 season, or about 8.6 per cent of all taxes collected by the Inland Revenue Department during the year. It is also one of the city's largest employers, with over 24 000 full- and part-time staff.

In addition, the club is a major community benefactor, operating under a unique, not-for-profit business model whereby its surplus goes to charity. In the 2005-06