Remarks by SCST at media session (with video)
*********************************************
Following are the remarks by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, at a media session about the Kai Tak Sports Park grand opening ceremony and arrangements for purchasing tickets to the ceremony today (February 20):
Reporter: Would the Government do real-name registration to counter ticket scalping? For people from overseas, how could they tune in to the ceremony? Will there be live signal on Youtube, or any other kind of platforms?
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism: For overseas viewers, they can also view through the apps or through the channels of our different free TV channels, through their apps, through the arrangements. They can watch it together with Hong Kong audience at 9.30pm at home in their countries or in their areas. There is no problem.
For scalping, first of all, we are selling the tickets through URBTIX. We have, of course, a series of different arrangements to ensure that fair arrangements for ticketing will be introduced and implemented. Secondly, it is also important to remind everybody that scalping is actually illegal in respect of shows staged in Kai Tak Sports Park. I invite and I urge all viewers and supporters of the event to get their tickets through the normal channel, through the proper official channel. And if you fail to do so, it doesn’t really matter because we have arranged free TV broadcast that particular night at 9.30pm, so there is no need really for any scalping, or to support these ticketing arrangements.
Reporter: What considerations have been made regarding the Government’s deficit for the budget of the ceremony? Second question is, in terms of tickets, where would the proceeds go to?
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism: Without excluding costs, all the proceeds will go to the Community Chest of Hong Kong for charitable use. For the budget, of course, given the size of the Main Stadium of Kai Tak Sports Park and given also the involvement of quite a number of crews, staff members, given the involvement of a series of different settings, and also multi-visual and multimedia channels, we of course have included or reserved sufficient production budget for the event.
But we will also be very mindful of ensuring that we will do it very, very efficiently and effectively. And I have to give special thanks to all the participating artists, actors and performers. Most of them actually do not require us to provide special remuneration aside from the minimum (cost), for example, the make-up or hair-do, the minimum for the performance. We are really, truly grateful for their participation, for their support and for their generosity.
Let me assure everybody that we will be very, very careful to make sure that the opening ceremony would be staged with a reasonable budget. The cost is capped to a minimum, but still (the event is) spectacular and enjoyable.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)