It was interesting to read that in his policy address, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John KS Lee floated the idea of children being allowed onto the city’s two racetracks including the unique and fabulous Happy Valley Racecourse.
Though unsure how this works right now, horse owner friends have mentioned that they bring their children to the races whenever they have horses running.
It’s also not unusual to see jockeys have their families on course for those priceless winning photos.
It goes without saying that with horse racing in Hong Kong so closely associated with gambling, there will be those parents who would not approve of their children being at a racecourse because of what they might pick up along the way, especially some of the rather more colourful shout outs in Cantonese heard when a race goer’s bet loses.
All this, however, is much ado about almost nothing compared to what Hong Kong- as a reasonably forward thinking city- can achieve by allowing children onto racetracks and NOT ONLY on race days.
Why, for example, can’t Happy Valley Racecourse be open to parents and their children when there is NO horse racing- and maybe it is- and built to be more than it is and marketed as something new?
Gawd knows, Hong Kong needs some relevant and Feel Good things to keep the city from not falling into total paranoia where everyone knows what’s wrong and talk so knowingly, but suffer from lockjaw when it matters.
Here’s more possible food for thought…
Opened much earlier than when the racing starts, the experience can include much more than the obligatory pony rides and things that come close to being found in Disneyland or other theme parks.
This should be a holistic Made in Hong Kong product for the world.
Offer kids the opportunity to meet popular Hong Kong role models like champion swimmer Siobhan Haughey, sure, some actors and pop stars, and some of the younger riders like new female jockey Britney Wong and have them watch the apprentice jockeys’ workout regimens.
Why can’t non race days be utilised to bring something NEW and RELEVANT to children living in a more and more creaky looking Hong Kong that’s seemingly hobbling along looking for a pulse despite those “night vibes”?
These are children who I personally believe have not lived normal lives since those wretched masked and lockdown Covid days and are still trying to find their way during these post pandemic years.
These are usually unhappy children looking for happiness and HOPE and trying to understand what might be normalcy in what are shoeboxes in the city.
These are children who have never lived on a farm and grown up around animals, so let’s not make comparisons with how things are in Australia and anywhere else that isn’t a concrete jungle.
It’s ironic and karmic that the “necessary evil” of something like horse racing that currently comes with a government warning might actually unshackle Hong Kong from being seen by many Western countries as almost an Orwellian tourist destination that brings up many unnecessary red flags.
This is 2024, we are not Peter Pan and Wendy in Never Never Land and children at the horse races or a racetrack is not only something so innocent that it should have happened decades ago, but as a brand, and with the right creative input, Hong Kong can, for the first time, have its own field of dreams- for children.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club can be seen as giving Hong Kong a combination of Oz where the Wizard lives and Toy Story or a gentler version of the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory or a new Sesame Street- or all of the above.
It can be anything and everything for children that isn’t here- yet.
Like the HKJC’s Happy Wednesday brand once was, here can be another game changer- and for young parents and their children- children of all nationalities- even “ethnic minorities” like myself, to actually have FUN.
Here is something that can work online with new tech partners to encourage more creative thinking and positive interactivity between children and also creating a safe and welcoming online world.
In his song “Where Do The Children Play?”, singer-songwriter Cat Stevens asked this question.
Well, here’s the answer!
Meanwhile, my longtime friend Simon Fuller, the mega media entrepreneur and businessman behind the successes of David Beckham, Spice Girls, SClub7, the “Idol” franchise, Carrie Underwood, and whom I worked with to find China’s first Pop Princess, might well be interested enough to be part of what this can become.
What a public relations coup this would be!
But enough talk as, for whatever reason, too many in Hong Kong have become too easily used to speaking Negativinese while drinking from half empty cups of whine (sic).
It’s time for, let’s call it OasisHK for the time being, and make this everything it could be by handing the reins to those with the experience and skills who have worked with children and marketing and advertising and strategic thinking and understand the importance of magic- and timing.
After all, time, time, time is ticking into the future…
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