Chapter 71 "Horse betting" and charity together?

Betting on horses is an integral part of life in Hong Kong. In the past, in my impression, Hong Kong returned to China, "one country, two systems", and kept the capitalist way of life unchanged for 50 years. The most vivid symbol of this "unchanged" is the promise Mr. Deng Xiaoping once made to Hong Kong people: "Singing photos Sing, dance, and horse run.” Of course, betting on horses is a form of gambling.Gambling is always bad. Why are Hong Kong people still unwilling to discard "bad" things?Still so greedy?Is "gambling on horses" like opium, once you take it, you can't quit it?

At that time, I knew so much about "horse betting", and there were only a few questions I could ask. However, when I arrived in Hong Kong, first of all, I heard that many old people in Hong Kong live for "horses". There are many similar "jokes" that stand out: an old man left his last words to his family before he died, Instead of clarifying how his property should be distributed among his children and grandchildren after his death, he did not tell his family how to live in harmony in the future, but kept telling his children which horse and which horse to bet on for him in the next game of horse betting. rider...

There must be some exaggeration in the old man's "joke", but "horse betting" has really become an indispensable "part" of Hong Kong people's life. The website of the City of Literature saw a report like this: "Uncle Biao, a famous actor and horse critic in Hong Kong, breathed his last breath after watching the horse race", and thought: ah?Does the old man's "joke" really have a realistic version?Then I opened the newspaper of the day and saw that almost every newspaper in Hong Kong carried this news: "Famous actor and horse critic Dong Biu passed away due to illness last night (February 22) at the age of 72. Host Uncle Biao, who has been on horse racing shows for 40 years, has had an indissoluble bond with horses all his life. When Uncle Biao was dying last night, he insisted on watching the last horse race last night in his hospital bed, and exhaled his last breath to say goodbye to his family, friends and horses !"

The death of "Uncle Biao" made many people in Hong Kong weep and regret.It is true that he was still watching live TV when he was dying, but his family members wanted to stimulate his will to live, hoping that the galloping horses on the grass could hold the old man back to life.Because once "Uncle Biao" "leaves", relatives and family members will be reluctant, and thousands of horse fans will also be reluctant.So how can this "Uncle Biao" He De deserve people's admiration and retention?As a "horse critic", I later learned that Dong Piao grew up in a family of horse trainers, and he himself was a professional jockey when he was young.After becoming a "horse critic", the most "valuable" thing about "Uncle Biao" is that he is not afraid of violence, not tempted by profit, outspoken, upright and fair, and often criticizes a jockey because he is not satisfied with his "performance". At that time, he had "green veins popping out", "pointing and pointing", and criticized the "black sheep" in the horse circle. Therefore, he is a very conscientious "arbitrator" in the minds of Hong Kong horse fans.

It wasn't until "Uncle Biao" passed away that I realized for the first time that Hong Kong's racecourses turned out to be a corner of the world that I had completely ignored.There are right and wrong, justice and conspiracy, villains and heroes in the racecourse.And the first time I bet on horses, I remember that it was on the "National Day" of 2004. The Hong Kong Jockey Club invited all the reporters who had just arrived in Hong Kong to participate in the "National Day Cup" horse race, and hoped that the CCTV news reported on the program.I was trembling in my heart at the time, as if being dragged to do something dishonorable for the first time, let alone the rules on the racecourse, we don’t know anything about betting, odds, results, payouts, winning, winning, etc. Streaks, positions, tricasts, I have never heard of a series of tricks. More importantly, a reporter from CCTV also went to play "horse betting". Even in Hong Kong, is this okay?

Now thinking about how stupid my attitude was at the beginning, several colleagues saw through my fear at that time, and sent them to laugh: Really, old-fashioned! "Horse racing" is not a kind of gambling in Hong Kong, no one thinks so.It is a kind of entertainment, a career, you don't understand this? If the "Hong Kong Jockey Club" is put on the table, it is not a black business opened by a big player, which is designed to lure the poor people to have fun, get addicted, throw money, borrow money, and even gamble until they go bankrupt and then commit suicide by jumping off the building , which is the largest single taxpayer of the government and by far the largest charity in the world.

Gambling and charity, can this be connected? Can Hong Kong people use the money earned from doing "bad things" to show their "benevolent" gentleman's mind? I don't understand, a person and the whole world seem to be opposed. But no matter how naive I was at the beginning, Hong Kong people never think that "gambling on horses" is a "bad thing". The racecourses in Hong Kong are not the same as the casinos in Macau. If you follow the history, Hong Kong people call "horse betting" a "sport". This "sport" first started in 1841. It can be said that the British transported the cannon to Hong Kong more than a hundred years ago, and at the same time transported the horses to Hong Kong.At that time, the "Happy Valley" on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong was still a swamp, and the British cleaned it up and turned it into the first racetrack. In 1884, the "Hong Kong Jockey Club" was officially established. In 1971, it was transformed from an amateur organization to a professional horse racing organization; in 1978, the second racecourse was opened in Sha Tin.For more than a hundred years, horse races, horse racing, and horse betting in Hong Kong have always been a normal thing for Hong Kong people. The "Jockey Club" holds the exclusive license to operate horse racing business in Hong Kong. At the same time, it can operate "Six Lottery" lotteries and operate standardized "football betting". 80% of its profits will be returned to horse fans; 14% will be handed over to the government; The remaining 6% is the "Jockey Club"'s own daily operating funds, and 2% of it will be used for charity expenses. In Hong Kong, the betting amount for each horse betting game is at least 80 million Hong Kong dollars, and important events such as the New Year The amount of betting in the special field will exceed 100 million. From 2005 to 2006, the Hong Kong Jockey Club paid a total of 12.45 billion Hong Kong dollars in taxes to the government, accounting for about 8.6% of the total government tax revenue. Donations from the young, the elderly, the sick and the disabled have exceeded 10 billion.The University of Hong Kong was the first to "study in a different place" with mainland exchange students, and the "government subsidies" enjoyed by mainland students amounted to hundreds of thousands a year, all of which came from the "profit" of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Yeah? Once it happened to be Wednesday, and the Happy Valley Racecourse was holding races as usual (every Wednesday and Sunday night, except for the suspension in July and August). After the interview, I was sitting in a taxi, and a young man called me The car was driving fast, listening to the radio while driving, and still had time to press the phone with the other hand.At first, I didn't quite believe that he was "betting" there. A driver can "gamble on horses" while driving on the road?Not to mention not being dedicated enough to do this, isn't the life of the passengers and himself in danger at any time?But at a red light, the young man picked up the newspaper again, which of course contained information about the horses, riders, etc. of that day's race, and circles and lines had been hastily drawn with a ballpoint pen on it - my God "Is he really betting on horses while driving?" The young man saw that I was worried, and said with a good temper: "Ah, what's the matter? Don't worry, my skills are fine, and I guarantee your safety." , he should have turned a turn on the road ahead, but he didn't. I knew the way well, and knew that he had made a mistake, so I said, "Look, it's safe, but it's not enough energy to concentrate?" "Lengtouqing" also found I made a mistake, I was a little embarrassed, I smiled, but I still "comforted" me nonchalantly and said: "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but it doesn't matter, you can go straight, and I will charge you less when you get there. Just some money."

After a while, his cell phone rang again. It was his friend asking him about a certain horse, asking him whether he should buy it? The young man was so excited that he immediately yelled in my ear: "Of course, it's only a three-year-old pony, and it won the first place in the last round. Buy, buy, you can't go wrong!" Thank goodness, after saying this, I finally got home. I don't know whether "Lengtouqing" won or lost that night, but his "driving style" is really frightening, even though he himself seems to be intoxicated by it, smiling.