No 13th month, but we cab still sponsor the ******* horse races

[Bograt]

WTF is up with that....? Even if you're interested in the nags, who is going to be able to get there and not be working?

See the company news 9Dec09:

The big week in Hong Kong's racing calendar gets underway in earnest tonight (Wednesday) as the Cathay Pacific International Jockey's Championship (IJC) comes under starter's orders at the Happy Valley racecourse.
The IJC is the warm-up event for the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races, which takes place at the Sha Tin track on Sunday, 13 December. This is the sixth consecutive year for CX to back Hong Kong's premier racing event and it promises to be bigger and better than ever before.
As usual, some of the world's top horses, jockeys and trainers will be travelling to the SAR for the four Cathay Pacific-sponsored races on Sunday - dubbed "the greatest show on turf". The Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint in particular promises a lineup to top anything in the world seen so far in 2009.
CX has already been making its presence felt through eye-catching newspaper ad and TV commercials, produced in conjunction with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which feature clear airline branding for the first time. Cathay will be flying in thousands of punters from overseas including around 600 who bought special HKIR packages - up on the previous year's sales with the majority again coming from Japan and Australia.
The CX name will be very visible on race day itself, with billboards all around the racecourse and branded giveaways such as hats and binoculars. The airline will be hosting VIP parties at its boxes in Sha Tin and the Member's Enclosure will feature a mini-exhibition featuring the First Class seats, CX Mobile applications and the People and Service "Meet the Team" display (pictured below).
CCD

[Lowkoon]

Apart from being famous for untreated effluent being pumped into our harbour, and the equivalent filth being pumped into our air, we are also famous for our racing calendar. In times of economic difficulty, usually the first thing to go is advertising, and other 'non essentials', (like bonuses). It really isnt in our interest to stop 'the group' promoting itself, however I'm not sure that the hapless gamblers in the outer at Shatin or 'the valley' are the target audience we aspire to attract, but at least it is a sign that there may at least be a pulse in the blue corpse. Bonuses are discretionary unless you are in dragon, it is based on 'company' or group performance whether we like it or not, and no doubt we all feel strongly that the 'paper profits' we made weren't really profits, therefore not performance based. Surely we can all open our bleeding hearts and accept that a billion dollars in 'paper' is just that, not worth the paper it is written on? Just wondering why it wasn't expressed in these terms when we made 'paper losses' in the previous year?

[N1 Vibes]

Merest thread drift here - but horses are apparently important if you want to get on in HK. The man-with-the-tan Ronald Arculli, that used to run the Jockey Club - something to do with horses - is now the top man at the Hang Seng Index - something to do with pot's of cash.

Background - solicitor, legco wastrel, good at getting a tan.......

I'm off to get the spray on stuff!