"I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing so many people use the facilities in the Club," said Mrs Hanny Yeung. "I shall be very sorry to leave here but expect that I can continue to visit as an ordinary member."

The Club has had a chequered history. The 3.75-hectare government site was first leased to the now defunct Police Sports Association in 1939. It was maintained by subscriptions and donations. There were small clubhouses and a very active Police Football Club, Rugby Club and Lawn Bowls Club. In 1979, it was reclassified as a government funded facility and allocated to the Commissioner as a Force sports and recreation facility. The Police Sports Club was dissolved and, eventually, the new Police Sports & Recreation Club was formed.

The Clubhouse Burns Down

The following year a 50m swimming pool and pavilion was constructed with funds from the Police Welfare Fund but, then, later in the year the main Clubhouse was destroyed by fire. The Government built a new four-storey structure on the site and private donations paid for the final finish and fitting-out ready for an official opening in April 1986.

The playing fields and swimming pool were not affected by the rebuild but a re-provisioning of the bowling green (with an artificial all-weather, low maintenance, high utilisation surface) reduced the overall area somewhat and a BBQ site was built. The new two-winged Clubhouse included south wing facilities for tennis, ten-pin bowling, squash courts, judo, table tennis, gymnasium, changing rooms and sauna. The north wing accommodated a restaurant, function room, sportsmen's bar and lounge, games room, reading room, television room, offices and staff quarters.

Princess Alexandra Opens New Clubhouse

OffBeat asked Mrs Yeung what she thought of the facility when she came. "It was the end result of efforts made by colleagues over many years," said Mrs Yeung, "and the official opening was a fantastic affair attended by Princess Alexandra herself. My work had really started before the opening and I contributed in the decisions on decor, fittings and furniture. We had to ensure that we ended up with an elegant finish, fittings and furniture which were easy to maintain and durable.

"I graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1972 and then joined the (former) Urban Council. Later I obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Sports, Leisure and Arts Administration in the UK and administered various facilities there before returning to Hong Kong and re-joining the Urban Council. When the Force vacancy was advertised I applied. Remember that was very early in the now ubiquitous 'equal opportunities' era, and I found myself working in what was virtually an all-male environment. That, of course, has changed greatly, and for the better.

Finding Space for New Activities

"During the last 18 years the trend has been for a diversification in the facilities offered. The principal problem was the lack of sufficient space in the clubhouse and grounds. All the available space had been filled up and it was a headache working out how to fit something else in.

"Fortunately, the Police Sports Clubs were, and remain, co-operative and self-sacrificing. Although they were supportive, it nevertheless needed a lot of work to identify acceptable compromises that would enable room to be found for everyone. It took many years to work out a practical plan for the construction of the outdoor jogging track around periphery of the grass pitches. Eventually the Sports Clubs agreed to reduce the size of the soccer and rugby pitches to the statutory minimum and the jogging track was built in 1995. Meanwhile, the Police Lawn Bowls Club agreed to surrender about half of its bowling green so as to enable construction of a 64-space car park.

"In 1999, a Beauty Saloon and a VIP Lounge were built after a reconfiguration of the male changing rooms. Then, with the kind agreement of the Police Judo Club, the large Judo hall was also reduced in size so as to accommodate a 'new' Fitness Room and the 'old' Fitness room was transformed into the Arts Room.

In 2002 the barbecue site was re-designed and re-named 'The Pavilion'- a Chinese Garden for barbecues and family activities. Then, in early 2003, the swimming pool complex was improved so as to more closely resemble the 'European' norm for a Lido.

"The latest project completed was the transformation of an under-used spectators stand serving the grass pitches into a new and expanded Fitness Gallery," Mrs Yeung explained. "I am glad that it was finished before I retired.

"Managing this facility, and more recently the Police Officers' Club, the Tso Woo Hang Recreation Centre and Tai Mei Tuk Training Activity Centre, means a constant need for change to meet the demands of a very active membership. You know," she concluded, "we have just celebrated the arrival of our 20 millionth guest. That is really amazing. In 1986 the average number of daily visits was 2,482 and by 2002 it had risen by about 50 per cent to 3,738. I am so proud of the Force and the individual club members who show their active determination to live a healthy lifestyle."

Mrs Hanny Yeung (extreme left) at the 10th Anniversary of the Police Sports & Recreation Club

The Swimming Pool has remained a firm favourite for sports and leisure