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Following is the speech by the Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs, Mrs Carrie Yau, at the Opening Ceremony of Lo Wu Saddle Club today (January 27):
Mr Paul Choi, Mr W K Lam, Mr Simon Ip, Mr Macro Cheng, distinguished guests and friends from the media,
It is my great pleasure to be here today to officiate at the reopening of Lo Wu Saddle Club and share with you this happy moment.
Lo Wu Saddle Club has all along been dedicated to promoting the equestrian sport and training up young riders. It has also provided free horse riding activities and free group visits to non-profit-making organisations and has been a staunch supporter of riding activities for the disabled. The Club's achievements speak clearly of its tremendous contributions to the development of the equestrian sport in Hong Kong. We are delighted to see that the Club now resumes services to the public after moving to its new premises.
The co-hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events by Hong Kong offers us a golden opportunity to work in close collaboration with various institutions and organisations to further promote sports in the community, particularly the equestrian sport, and to foster a stronger sporting culture in the community. Just like today, "Huanhuan", the lovely Olympic mascot, together with exhibition boards introducing the equestrian sport and promoting the Olympic spirit are displayed in this venue to enhance the public's understanding on the forthcoming Equestrian Events in Hong Kong and the Olympic Games. We shall be staging the Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relays in early May and early September this year respectively, as well as the setting up of Live Sites during the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games period. We will be in full swing to engage the whole community in the Olympic atmosphere.
Before I conclude, I would like to congratulate Lo Wu Saddle Club once again on its reopening and look forward to seeing the Club's continuous contributions to the promotion of the equestrian sport in Hong Kong. I also wish the Equestrian Events to be co-hosted by Hong Kong a great success!
Thank you.
Ends/Sunday, January 27, 2008
Issued at HKT 15:04
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