HONG KONG (AP) Hong Kong began the millennium with a horse
race billed as the first of 2000, around a track that had been
circled by a brilliant fireworks display just after midnight.
A 990-foot glowing silk dragon was placed in the middle of the
race course, and fireworks exploded all around it. Sparks trailed
behind a flying winged man as he was lowered by cables onto the
track.
Jugglers and smaller dragons marched around the turf, and action
film star Jackie Chan paraded around on a horse with a blue and
yellow Hong Kong Jockey Club saddle.
On Friday afternoon, scores of men squatted on the sidewalk
outside a busy betting station, poring over the racing pages while
taking long drags on their cigarettes.
''Gambling is the life of Hong Kong,'' said M.S. Yau, a
60-year-old trading executive. ''Let's hope the horses will behave
in the new millennium.''
Many people who saw their investment in property and stocks
wiped out during an 18-month recession are longing for better times
in the former British colony. The blue-chip stock index finished
the year at an all-time closing high, helped by the return of
foreign investment.
''The worst should now be over,'' said nurse Leung Kai-wing, 41,
taking snapshots in his university graduation gown in a downtown
park.
''But I'm worried some foreign investors will leave after the
new year,'' said Leung, who lost last year in his stock market
forays.
In a New Year's message broadcast on TV and radio, Chief
Executive Tung Chee-hwa said the economic situation ''will continue
to improve.''
The government ''will continue to make substantial investments
in education, innovation and technology, as well as infrastructural
developments,'' Tung said.
