Foreword

I am privileged to join LCSD in July 2014 to lead a team of competent and dedicated colleagues with a shared vision to enhance the quality of life of Hong Kong people. The year 2014-15 marks another fruitful year with a wide array of leisure and cultural facilities and services that suit the needs and interests of people from all walks of life.

In terms of hardware, the commissioning of the Ko Shan Theatre New Wing in October 2014 gave another boost to the promotion of Cantonese opera, an item inscribed onto UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009. This purpose-designed facility served as a cradle for the inheritance and performance of the Cantonese opera genre. We also commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre (HKCC). Since its opening in 1989, HKCC has firmly established itself as Hong Kong's premier performance venue, having staged more than 18 000 performances to showcase the talent of renowned artists and performing companies at home and abroad, and attracted audiences of over 15 million in total. An exciting array of fun-filled celebration programmes was organised.

During the year, we also commissioned two leisure venues namely, the Tin Yip Road Sand Court and Park and Phase 1 of the Kai Tak Runway Park. To ensure fair, efficient and optimal booking and allocation of our leisure venues, our Leisure Link System launched a re-registration exercise so that each patron could hold one account only. Penalties were also introduced to discourage abuse for the benefit of more genuine users.

2014 was a fruitful year with remarkable achievements in the sports arena. Hong Kong athletes won 43 and 44 medals at the Incheon 2014 Asian Games and the Incheon 2014 Asian Para Games respectively. LCSD will continue to render support to our athletes and respective National Sports Association in their pursuits both locally and internationally.

Community sports remained high on our agenda. Our Sport For All Day 2014 attracted over 220 000 people from all walks of life to participate in sports activities. Another sporting highlight was the new Vitality Run, held as the prelude to the 5th Hong Kong Games. In a carnival atmosphere, over 5 000 participants took part in the run along the Shing Mun Riverside and related fringe activities.

LCSD is also committed to promoting horticulture and greening. Hong Kong Flower Show 2015, with Oncidium genus of orchids as its theme, attracted a record high of some 600 000 visitors.

In the cultural arena, our museums continued to scale new heights, attracting around 6.1 million visitors in 2014-15. Enthusiastic crowds flocked to blockbuster exhibitions such as Treasures from Tsarskoye Selo, Residence of the Russian Monarchs; Studio Ghibli Layout Designs: Understanding the Secrets of Takahata and Miyazaki Animation; The Extraordinary in the Ordinary: Chairs for Viewing the World through Time; and Dunhuang – Untold Tales, Untold Riches.

With the completion of a territory-wide survey on intangible cultural heritage (ICH) last year, we launched Hong Kong's first ICH inventory with 480 items in June 2014. With the addition of four items (viz. the arts of the Guqin, Quanzhen temples Taoist ritual music, Hakka unicorn dance in Hang Hau, Sai Kung and Wong Tai Sin belief and customs) in 2014, Hong Kong now has a total of 10 items successfully inscribed onto the national list of ICH.

In September 2014, we hosted a major international conference in collaboration with the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC). The IIC 2014 Hong Kong Congress on An Unbroken History - Conserving East Asian Works of Art and Heritage, being the first of its kind in South East Asia, brought together 400 delegates and conservation professionals from 30 countries and regions to share good practices in conservation, testifying to the important role of Hong Kong in the international arena.

Our world-class public library system also made great strides in its e-services, with the libraries' website revamped, two new mobile apps launched, and more new e-resources added to the existing collections. Its promotional project Library at Your Fingertips, coupled with the revamped website and a number of major innovative projects, received public acclaim and won various awards during the year. In October 2014, we organised the 10th Conference on Cooperative Development and Sharing of Chinese Resources – Digital Legacy, an international library conference on the creation and sharing of Chinese digital resources.

We continued to offer a diverse and high quality selection of performing arts programmes across the year, such as the seventh edition of the New Vision Arts Festival which included fine theatrical productions of Hedda Gabler and ArtSnap. The new Music Delight Series of easy-listening music programmes proved a hit among young people and their families.

Last but not least, I am pleased to report that LCSD received the Grand Award of the Ombudsman's Awards 2014 for Public Organisations in recognition of the department's exemplary positive attitude and speedy response in handling complaints, and its support of mediation as a complaint resolution method.

These are just a few of the highlights. In the year ahead, we will continue to work closely with relevant stakeholders in providing quality facilities and services for the benefit of the Hong Kong community.