Culture, Leisure andMunicipal Services

Hong Kong athletes took part ina number of major events in 2014,includingthe Youth Olympic Gamesin Nanjing and the Asian Gamesand Asia Para Games in Incheon.They achieved outstanding results,winning a total of 93 medals: 18 gold,31 silver and 44 bronze medals inthese 3 events alone.

Some 3 200 athletes from 18 districtsparticipated in more than 1 000contests in 8 sports in the 5thHong Kong Games held from Aprilto May 2015.

Allocated a maximum of $25 millionannually for 5 years starting from2015-16 to the Hong Kong FootballAssociation for implementing itsStrategic Plan so as to furtherthe development of local football.

Increased the financial support foreach district team in 2014. Supportforeach district team participatingin the Hong Kong Premier League(HKPL) has been increased from$1 million to $1.5 million per footballseason. In the 2014-15 season,a total of 3 district teams participatedin the HKPL.

Continued the Pilot Scheme forStudent Athlete Support in the 2014/15school year to support students fromlow-income families in realising theirsporting potential. In its second yearof implementation, the number ofparticipating schools has increasedby over 30% from 363 to 488.

Announced in February 2015the plan to introduce a $300 millionArt Development Matching Grants PilotScheme, under which matching grantswill be provided for the privatedonation and sponsorship securedby eligible local arts groups. The PilotScheme aims at encouraging differentsectors of the community to sponsorlocal art and cultural activities,promoting closer partnership andjazzing up the cultural aura of the city.

Various cultural and leisure facilitiescame into operation in the past year,including the Tin Yip Road Park andthe Ko Shan Theatre New Wingdedicated for Cantonese operaperformances in October 2014;the Tiu Keng Leng Sports Centre,the Tiu Keng Leng Public Library andopen space opened in phasesfromMarch 2015; and the Kwun TongPromenade (Stage II) and theredeveloped Kwun Tong RecreationGround in the second quarter of2015.

With “When Blossoms Dance” as itstheme, the Hong Kong Flower Showheld at Victoria Park in March 2015displayed over 350 000 floweringplants and attracted a record numberof almost 600 000 visitors.

A number of major exhibitions wereheld by the Leisure and CulturalServices Department (LCSD) in 2014-15,including the “Treasures fromTsarskoye Selo, Residence of theRussian Monarchs” and “Dunhuang -Untold Tales, Untold Riches”exhibitions. LCSD museums sawa record number of over 6.52 millionvisitors in 2014, an increase of about6% over 2013 and a growth of 13%since 2012. These exhibitions havesuccessfully built up a wider audiencebase and helped raise public interestin art, history and science.

Promulgated the first inventory listof Hong Kong’s intangible culturalheritage (ICH) in June 2014. The StateCouncil announced in December 2014that 4 items from Hong Kong(including the arts of the Guqin,Quanzhen temples Taoist ritual music,Hakka unicorn dance in Hang Hau,Sai Kung and Wong Tai Sin belief andcustoms) had been successfullyinscribed onto the latestnational ICH list.Together with the 6 items inscribedearlier, a total of 10 Hong Kong itemsare on the national ICH list. Also,the Intangible Cultural Heritage Unitcurrently under the Hong KongHeritage Museum will be upgraded asthe Intangible Cultural Heritage Officeto heighten its endeavours on theidentification, documentation, research,preservation, promotion andtransmission of ICH.

Launched the “My Library” and"Multimedia Information" mobile appsin July and September 2014 respectively,to enable members of the public toaccess library services and digitalcollections anytime and anywhere.

The TPB approved the West KowloonCultural District Authority's planningapplication for minor relaxation ofdevelopment intensity of the WestKowloon Cultural District (WKCD) sitein November 2014 to fully bring outthe development potential of the site.The construction works of thefoundation of M+ and the mainsuperstructure of Xiqu Centre inWKCD have commenced in Augustand December 2014 respectively.M+ and Xiqu Centre are expected tobe completed by the second half of2018 and mid-2017 respectively.Construction works of the Arts Pavilionhave also started in April 2015, withexpected completion date in 2016.Besides, the construction works of thetemporary Nursery Park are expectedto be completed in mid-2015 and willbe open for public enjoyment afterwards.

Launched a $230 million 5-yearscheme for providing financialassistance to hawkers in June 2013to enhance the fire safety standards ofhawker stalls. As at May 2015, of theabout 500 stalls identified as carryinghigher fire risks, over 60% have beenvacated whilst consensus about therelocation arrangements have largelybeen reached in all remaining cases.Reconstruction of stalls in varioushawker areas is being completedprogressively, in accordance withthe new fire safety requirements.

Reported to LegCo in January 2015the outcome of the consultancy studyproviding reference for improving theoperating environment of publicmarkets. We plan to put forwardconcrete improvement proposals fora number of public markets in 2015,after taking into account theirconditions as well as thechallengesand opportunities facing individualmarkets.

Secured support of DCs for4 columbarium development projectsat Sandy Ridge, Chai Wan, Wo Hop Shekand Tsang Tsui in 2014-15. Theseprojects will provide about 430 000new niches, which are expected tobecomeavailable from 2019 onwards.