Speech by Mrs. Rosanna Ure,
Director, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office
at the Reception to Launch the �Hong Kong Arts Festival�
City Hall
November 13, 2001

The Honourable Tony Clement, Councillor Feldman, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

On behalf of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office, I would like to welcome you all to the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Arts Festival 2001.

In October this year, the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office celebrated its 10th anniversary in Canada. Throughout the past decade, the relationship between Hong Kong and Canada, and in particular Toronto, has become very strong. In Toronto, the preferred destination for Hong Kong immigrants, there has been a better appreciation of our cultural heritage and values. As a result, the work of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office has become more and more diversified. Not only are we involved in the promotion of trade and business between Canada and Hong Kong, we also regularly organize activities that promote cultural exchanges so as to build up mutual understanding and friendship between the two places. It is with this in mind that we launch the Hong Kong Arts Festival 2001 here in Toronto.

Hong Kong is the place where East meets West. This unique combination is nowhere as apparent as in our rich and diversified cultural life. The annual Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Hong Kong International Film Festival, for example, attract an audience of thousands every year. Through this relatively mini, but equally fascinating, Hong Kong Arts Festival in Toronto, we hope to introduce to you a different perspective of Hong Kong, by giving you a sense of the great variety and richness of Hong Kong�s arts and culture.

Hong Kong is a place where fantasy and reality can exist side by side. As many refugees from the Mainland who came to Hong Kong after the Second World War know, Hong Kong is the place where dreams can come true, where ambitions are fulfilled, where miracles happen. It is therefore no coincidence that this exhibition marries photo stills from movies made in the 1950s and 60s in Hong Kong and present-day images of the real Hong Kong. Though films are usually a dramatized version of society�s problems, I can confirm, and so will many of my friends here who lived in Hong Kong during those difficult years, that at one point in time we only got water supply once every four days, that many families were cramped together in a living unit sub-divided into cubicles and bed spaces, that a sumptuous meal was a rare treat reserved only for important Chinese festivals. Compare this to today�s Hong Kong, and you will immediately realize the progress we have made in the past half a century.

Apart from the photo exhibition opening today, during the Arts Festival we will present four recently produced Hong Kong films at the Hong Kong Weekend of the 5th Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival and a filmmakers� seminar on international co-production. We are also pleased to sponsor a performance by the Hong Kong Ballet called �The Last Emperor� later this month at Mississauga. The Hong Kong Arts Festival will close with a special tribute to our international star Bruce Lee, by screening one of his last films made in Hong Kong before he pursued his study and career in the United States.

No city can truly be a great city without a vibrant cultural life. In this respect, Hong Kong and Toronto have a lot in common. Both cities enjoy economic prosperity which supports an equally dynamic cultural life; and arts and culture are very much an integral part of the life of Torontonians and Hong Kong citizens.

We in the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office have enjoyed the warm friendship and hospitality of Canada for 10 years. The Hong Kong Arts Festival is a way for us to say �thank you� for your support.

I hope you will enjoy the programs we have prepared for you during the Festival.

Thank you.