Opinion | With a world-class sports park, Hong Kong should aspire to nothing less than an Asian Games
- The Kai Tak park is the government’s most important investment in sports infrastructure
- But the HK$30 billion project risks being a white elephant if we do not stage prestigious events
In four and a half years, Hong Kong will have a world-beating, state-of-the-art multisport park capable of hosting major games. It’s going to be the envy of the world, sitting proudly on a prized piece of real estate overlooking Victoria Harbour.
To do it justice, we need to think big. Maybe not Olympic-sized dreams, but definitely Asian Games. We have failed miserably in bidding for the Asiad before, but now we will have the hardware to match our proven software.
Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor called it the government’s most important investment in sports infrastructure in recent decades and the park will attract a bigger roster of regional and international sports events to the city.
The 28-hectare facility features a 50,000-seat main stadium, a 10,000-seat indoor sports centre, a public sports ground and other ancillary facilities, but we know a world-class venue will mean nothing and quickly be labelled a white elephant if we don’t put up major events there.
