Cantonese Opera Development Fund Executive Committee Work Report (August 2005 to July 2011)

$69 Million New Injection to Cantonese Opera Development Fund and $40 Million Granted in Support of about 390 Projects

The Cantonese Opera Development Fund (CODF), officially set up on 27 November 2005, has raised more than $40 million, including $9 million funding from the Board of Management of the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries and $7 million funding from the Chinese Temple Committee. In 2009, it received a donation of $15 million from the Sir Murray MacLehose Trust Fund and an injection of $5 million from the Home Affairs Bureau. In 2010, an injection of $69 million was received from the Finance Committee of Legislative Council.

Since its establishment, around $40 million was granted in support of about 390 Cantonese opera projects. Of the funds granted for various purposes:

1. Nurturing New Talents and Professional Training

   • $3 million was granted to the first "Hong Kong Cantonese Opera Troupe for New Talent Three-Year Grant Scheme"; and
   • $400,000 was used to support the Society of Continuing Education for Cantonese Opera Professionals to organize the Cantonese Opera Advancement Course for Performers.

2. Education

   • $730,000 to support Spring-Time Discovery Channel, Spring-Time Innovation, Spring-Time Chinese Opera and Fool House in conducting at least 100 primary and secondary school touring performances;
   • $550,000 to support the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts to organize various Cantonese Opera Promotion Programmes in primary and secondary schools to promote Cantonese Opera;
   • $361,000 to support the Chinese Artists Association of Hong Kong in running the Partnership Project on Teaching and Learning of Cantonese Opera in secondary school;
   • $310,000 to support Rainbow Opera Troupe in organizing cross-curriculum collaboration scheme for teaching Cantonese Opera and organizing Cantonese Opera performance for primary school students;
   • $200,000 to support the Centre for the Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research in the Faculty of Education of The University of Hong Kong to carry out the project entitled "Integrating the Cantonese Opera in the New Senior Secondary Chinese Language Curriculum";
   • $200,000 to support The University of Science and Technology to carry out the project entitled "Promotional Program of Cantonese Opera in Tertiary Institutions" and
   • $156,000 to support to the Department of Creative Arts and Physical Education in the Faculty of Languages, Arts and Sciences of the Hong Kong Institute of Education to carry out the project entitled "Teaching Cantonese Opera in Schools: A Pilot Project".

3. Community Promotion and Audience Building Enhancement

   • $603,500 to support the Hong Kong Cantonese Opera Chamber of Commerce in running various audience building enhancement projects, including performances exclusively for students and transportation services for community;
   • $300,000 to support the Hong Kong Chinese Opera and Performing Arts Group Association in organizing the 18 Districts Cantonese Opera Singing Contest in 2007; and
   • $500,000 to support Chinese Opera Production Association in organizing Chinese Opera Competition in 2009.

4. Research and Archive

   • Around $1,240,000 to support several Cantonese Opera script translation projects conducted by various universities; and
   • $700,000 to support the preparation work for the joint submission to UNESCO to apply for the inscription of Cantonese opera on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by Hong Kong, Guangdong Province and Macau.

5. Venue Support

   • Private donations to support various venue support schemes for Sunbeam Theatre.

Further, CODF has allocated funding to support various performances by new talents, and jointly presented by experienced artists and new talents; and other children or youth cultural exchange and arts education projects, professional training and community promotion projects, as well as venue development projects, research and archival projects.