HONG KONG, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's 53rd Festival of Sport marked its opening here on Sunday, calling on all the citizens, especially the young generation to take exercise.
The Festival of Sport, running from March to June 2010, was an annual event in HK to promote Sport for All and lead a healthy lifestyle in the community.
This year's edition recommended people to take part in physical and sports activities for at least 30 minutes a day and three days a week in order to lead a more healthy life.
President of Hong Kong Olympic Committee Timothy Fok appeared at the opening ceremony to encourage the public participation by joining a stretching demonstration.
I should set a good example for Hong Kong people, especially for the young generation, he said. Young people now have many choices in spending their spare time and I think many of them now spend two much time on computers. I hope that they would participate more in sports activities.
Betty Fung, director of Leisure and Cultural Services of HK Special Administrative Region government, revealed that an amount of 75 million HK dollars (about 10 million U.S. dollars) would be used to promote the public participation of sports according to the government budget for 2010-2011.
More than 80 sports competitions, demonstrations, family fun days and featured sports events will be organized by 74 Hong Kong sports associations from March 10 to June 10 across 18 districts in Hong Kong, which are all free to public.