It’s hard to believe that the 60th year anniversary of Festival of Sport is to arrive in 2017 for the springtime territorial wide celebration of the virtues of fitness and competition to promote “Sport for All”. The Festival of Sport to engage the community through all its districts was conceived to promote unity and participation which just happened to coincide with the rapid transformation of Hong Kong in the late 1950s as a place of manufacturing and shipping. Since then our city has undergone several major mutations to become, as it is today, a financial center unrivaled in Asia and, with it, the perennial Festival of Sport which has since grown together with the place we call home and is now integral to its identity. The principle that led to the launching of the first Festival of Sport in 1958 has not changed even as trends come and go, though it has been broadened to embrace even more events to reflect the diverse interests and multiple pursuits that appeal to our fellow citizens as always willing to enlarge and experiment with athletic experiences. That the Festival of Sport endures and expands attests to the flexibility and adaptability of those who organized, and still organize, this annual grand occasion. Such an elastic, encompassing approach bodes well for the future of the event that succeeds by having every district play a part with the support of the authorities and the full endorsement of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China which regards as a signature showcase of the conviction that, through activities, we improve our health, as individuals and as a society. I grew up, as you did, with Festival of Sport and was steeped in its philosophy. I hope that others to follow will say the same sixty years hence for a tradition so great has to be preserved and advanced. Cheers.
Timothy T. T. FOK, GBS, JP
President
Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China
