Chief Producer & Chief Planner of Opening Ceremony of 2009 EAG Lu Jiankang introduces the stage of the EAG opening ceremony at a press conference at Central Government Offices yesterday. Edmond Tang

HONG KONG: The opening ceremony for the 2009 East Asian Games will be a dazzling affair, set in Victoria Harbour against the high-rise enclosure of the Central business district. Popular singers Andy Lau, Alan Tam, Hacken Lee and Joey Yung are slated to provide star power to the show.

"We relocated the ceremony from traditional stadiums to Victoria Harbour, because Central is the best background for the ceremony compared to anything else created temporarily. The Central area embodies the history and miracle Hong Kong people have achieved in the past. We do not have to spend a penny, but the background tells most of all that I could think about," said Lu Jiankang, chief producer & chief planner of opening ceremony of the games.

The ceremony will unfold on a 65-meter-long, 15-meter-wide spray-shaped stage where the ceremony of lighting the games' cauldron will take place. The stage will also be equipped with giant LED screen. The show is set to begin at 8 pm, December 5, the opening day of the games.

This unconventional conception was conceived by the same creative and production teams that devised the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Opening and Closing ceremonies and China's 60th National Day parade.

Lu said the people of Hong Kong will be the real heroes for the ceremony.

More than 60 vessels decorated in distinctive themes will cruise in the harbor, creating a mobile landscape. A fireworks extravaganza will light up the skies over the harbor in 10 different presentations interspersed throughout the performance.

Chen Weiya, who also acted as assistant chief director of the Opening and Closing ceremonies of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, said the four segment performance would feature Hong Kong's past, presence and future, and eventually conclude with an at-large chorus.

Other artists from Hong Kong will also play the key roles at the ceremony. About 300 dancers and martial artists from the mainland will be on the stage. Organizers declined to disclose further details, however saying they wanted to keep the Hong Kong audience in suspense up until the last minute.

The government predicts it to be the most widely viewed opening ceremony in the history of the East Asian Games.

Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing said this HK$40 million ceremony was not aimed at building a luxury extravaganza to compete with the 2008 Olympics Opening or the National Day parade. Instead the event is intended to set off massive and enthusiastic participation by the people of Hong Kong.

Even though some special arrangements for the ceremony might affect marine transportations to some extent, Tsang believed the public would understand and support the ceremony since it was a good chance to showcase Hong Kong to the world.

"Hong Kong people are passionate for the East Asian Games. I am not worried about ticket sales at all. On the contrary, I am in trouble not able to provide more tickets for certain popular competitions to those who failed to grab one," said Tsang.

The 5th East Asian Games commencing on December 5 is the first regional multi-sport contest Hong Kong has ever hosted. During the nine-day event 2,300 athletes from nine different countries or regions of East Asia will compete for 262 gold medals.

To celebrate this event, Hongkong Post yesterday also announced to release a set of stamps based on the theme of "Hong Kong 2009 East Asian Games" for sale with associated philatelic products on December 5.

(HK Edition 11/17/2009 page1)