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■立法會財委會大比數否決撥款支持政府約60億元申亞開支，港府力爭社會支持申辦2023年亞運亦徒勞無功。資料圖片
立法會財委會大比數否決撥款支持政府約60億元申亞開支，香港申亞劃上句號。事實上，大部分議員否決申亞撥款，主要是民意對於本港申亞仍有疑慮。儘管一些政黨表示認同申亞的意義，但面對即將來臨的選舉壓力，在主流民意不支持申亞的情況下，不得不作出否決的選擇。
申亞撥款雖遭否決，但曾特首及曾德成局長都承諾，政府投放在體育上的開支都不會減少，顯示當局推動體育發展的決心。政府近年在公共體育設施總投資超過100億元，金額並不算少。不過，本港體育風氣仍有待提升，市民對舉辦體育盛事的熱情不高，也是申亞未能成事的原因之一。當局須就體育發展定出長遠規劃，一方面加快各體育場館及設施的興建，完善對運動員的培訓；另一方面扭轉目前在中小學忽視體育科的弊病，在社會上推動體育健身的風氣。
另外，以本港的經濟條件、城市發展及舉辦大型活動的經驗，絕對有能力舉辦亞運。然而，社會對於申亞的討論一開始就受到了政治化的干擾，部分政黨甚至將申亞與扶貧、教育等其他民生開支混為一談，將政府申亞批評為好大喜功是「面子工程」，導致申亞討論變得政治化。此舉容易令到嚴肅的政策討論變成非黑即白的政治攻訐，對社會理性探討問題並無好處，長遠將損害本港競爭力。
Sports development has to continue despite failed Asian Games bid
The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council vetoed, by an overwhelming majority, the request made by the government for appropriation of approximately HK$6 billion to host the Asian Games. This marks an end to the bid for staging the games in Hong Kong. In fact, most of the councilors voted against the appropriation mainly because the general public was skeptical of hosting the Asian Games in Hong Kong. Some political parties had expressed their endorsement towards the significance of hosting the Games; however, as the mainstream public opinion did not support the move, these parties had no choice but to cast a no vote under the of pressure of the forthcoming elections.
Although the appropriation was voted down, both the Chief Executive Donald Tsang and the Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing undertook that the government would not cut the expenditure allocated to sports, reaffirming the government's resolution to promote sports in Hong Kong. In recent years, the total investment made by the government in public sporting facilities has exceeded HK$10 billion, which is not a small amount. In spite of this, the sports culture in Hong Kong has yet to be enhanced and citizens are not enthusiastic about hosting a major sports event here. This is one of the reasons why the government's attempt to stage the Asian Games failed. The authorities should draft a long-term plan for sports development. On the one hand, the construction of stadiums and other sporting facilities has to be sped up in order to perfect the training of athletes. On the other hand, the current mistake of neglecting physical education in primary and secondary schools should be corrected so as to promote a culture of sports and exercise in society.
With Hong Kong's economic condition, level of urbanization and experience in organizing major large scale events, Hong Kong has no doubt the ability to host the Asian Games. However, the discussion on whether to stage the games had been politicized and disrupted from the very beginning. Some political parties had even mixed up the bid to host the Games with other issues of public expenditure such as poverty alleviation and education, and heavily criticized the government for forging ahead a grandiose and overambitious plan. The bid was considered a "vanity project" and the discussion was politicized. Such kind of act can easily turn serious policy discussion into polarized political smearing, which is not going to do any good to the rational discussion of social issues. In the long run, the competitiveness of Hong Kong will be undermined. ■Translation by 開明 chi.ming818@gmail.com
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