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The Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, attended the opening ceremony of the 1st Asian Youth Games and the flag raising ceremony of the Hong Kong delegation in Singapore today (June 29). He learned about the measures taken by the Singaporean government to fight the human swine influenza (HSI Influenza A H1N1) and visited the Hong Kong athletes who had earlier been diagnosed as infected with HSI but had now recovered.
Mr Tsang said: "Although the HSI has been circulating in the Hong Kong community and the HKSAR Government has started implementing the new mitigation phase measures against the disease from today, I believe that so long as the hygiene protection measures are well implemented, the 5th East Asian Games will go on this December as scheduled."
Mr Tsang attended the flag raising ceremony of the Hong Kong delegation this afternoon. He also visited the athletes' village to show support to the Hong Kong athletes.
"This trip gives us an opportunity to learn more about the measures adopted in a major sports event during the outbreak of pandemic. We will learn from the experience to better prepare ourselves for the East Asian Games," he said.
Mr Tsang took the opportunity to visit the Hong Kong football team, including those players who had earlier been diagnosed as infected with HSI and who had now recovered, to understand their situation during the isolation period.
He said: "Although the Hong Kong football team cannot take part in the Asian Youth Games this time, we hope the athletes will continue to strive for better performance and prepare themselves well for the forthcoming major international sports events, including the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore next year."
To encourage other Hong Kong young athletes who were continuing their competitions in the Asian Youth Games, Mr Tsang said: "We should not only try our best to excel through unremitting efforts in the games, but also strive to demonstrate good sportsmanship."
He said the HKSAR Government attached great importance to the nurturing of young athletes and had injected $5 million into the Hong Kong Athletes Fund, for the purpose of setting up an incentive scheme to provide scholarships to young athletes (those aged 18 or below) who achieved outstanding results in the Asian Youth Games and the Youth Olympic Games.
Mr Tsang attended the opening ceremony of the Youth Asian Games in the evening. He will also watch competition events tomorrow to cheer on Hong Kong athletes and encourage them to strive for excellence.
The 1st Asian Youth Games are held from June 29 to July 7 in Singapore. More than 40 athletes from the Hong Kong delegation will take part in the games.
Mr Tsang met the Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Mr Lui Tuck Yew, in the morning to exchange views on the strengthening of cultural exchanges between the two places.
Ends/Monday, June 29, 2009
Issued at HKT 18:42
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