The challenge for Hong Kong horse racing: Being cool, entertaining and engaging.

My musicologist friend Carl Reiser and his team at Songfacts asked a Tuesday Trivia question on Facebook that for some reason made me think about the Hong Kong International Races. Talk about a quantum mental leap…

It also made me think about the main reason that the pop group known as Now United, below, is in Hong Kong-  to perform at this year’s HKJC showcase event in December, which will attract some of the world’s best jockeys, trainers, excellent equine talent and horse racing fans from around the world plus those in Hong Kong who follow the game.

The question on Songfacts had to do with which single sung “almost entirely not in English” topped the Top Ten Billboard charts in the 21st century.

Though the incorrect answer- the correct answer is “Gangnam Style” by PSY- I asked readers to not forget the track “Sukiyaki” by Japanese singer-songwriter Kyu Sakamoto. 

This was the first number one hit in America in 1963 and a number one multi cultural hit around the world including Japan and Hong Kong. 

With the Sunday HKIR races held in the afternoon at Shatin always attracting a very strong army of Japanese raiders, it might be an idea for Now United to perform this song, even if without a Japanese member. 

This same song, by the way, sung in English, was a hit for Taste Of Honey and 4pm.

Could Now United perform the song with the girls dressed in stylish kimonos and have the multi cultural group bring some J-Pop to the event? 

Haven’t we had more than enough of jumping on the K-Pop bandwagon and which just might be slowing down?

Frankly, why not have an international fashion show on course featuring fabulous models in equally fabulous Chinese cheongsams?

There’s apparently much riding on the success of this year’s HKIR weekend for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, for X1X Entertainment who manages Now United, and for the brand image of Hong Kong that’s still somewhat fuzzy.

Not that anyone is saying that it will, but this year’s HKIR week cannot afford to be an unappetising and cornball buffet of odds and sods that miss the mark. 

We’ve all had our fill of the empty dance by world leaders who can’t lead, and a voracious news media who wants the circus to continue of clowns to bumble as bad news sells and helps ratings. 

We all need a break from political flatulence.

For the HKJC, and now with a couple of key new “transformational” hires, it no doubt wishes to see horse racing and, very possibly, its holistic mothership product, be a sustainable entertainment product, something also mentioned recently by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.

For any of this to happen, it doesn’t take an Einstein to see that what’s very probably needed is a style driven strategy that is sustainable and with no room for bloated superficiality.

Having created the Happy Wednesday brand for the HKJC and which made Wednesday nights in the city come alive, whatever that was happened in a very different Hong Kong, and at a very different time in the world.

Expected this year during HKIR week will be ‘live’ music at the Beer Garden and some other venue at Happy Valley plus an appearance by popular celebrity horse owner and youthful looking 60 year old actor-singer-dancer Aaron Kwok. 

But will racegoers and non racegoers be offered something where they can happily expect the unexpected? 

And what might this be? 

There’s more: What will this lead to after the last race has been run and give Hong Kong horse racing top of mind awareness that’s not relegated to the racing pages?

Personally speaking, during these days of streaming and clickbait and clutter and reels etc etc, I would say it would be something having very cool APP-eal.

Of course, these are only my ideas and which doesn’t mean that any of it is right, because how does one person know what others want? 

Nobody’s right when everyone is wrong, or are at least unsure about pretty much anything and everything. 

Personally speaking, there is something wrong in how most of us come up with things, because all this is just guesswork- thought bubbles that float around in the ether and then disappear.  

The entire concept of communications must change for there to be real Change by those who truly believe with others about the same things. 

Having said this, we’re probably never going to reach this point because we’re still far from having bilateral, bicoastal or even bisexual agreements. 

So, like the man said, just turn off your mind, relax and float downstream because tomorrow never knows.

We might be doing our best, but the best might not be good enough to please everyone.

And so, it’s just putting ideas out there and seeing who salutes.

And if no one does, that’s cool, too.

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