Aristo Sham became Hong Kong’s first pianist ever to claim first prize at the 17th Van Cliburn international piano competition held in New York City. He earned a cash prize of $100,000 as well as three-year career management programme and performance attire sponsored by US department store chain Neiman Marcus. Additionally, Aristo plans on embarking on concert tours both domestic and abroad following this achievement. His win over five other finalists at New York City saw him take home this prize and set out on concert tours around the globe.
The Hong Kong Arts Development Awards honor arts practitioners across seven categories for their achievements in arts. The highest accolade, known as the Grand Award, recognizes those whose contributions to different art forms have been longstanding and significant.
Arts Promotion Award, another category in this competition, recognizes and rewards schools’ efforts in supporting arts education for their students. Awardees are selected from among the best arts educational organisations within a territory.
As part of an effort to foster scientific research in Hong Kong, the Science and Technology Prize was introduced in 2022. Nomination criteria expanded this year to include Hong Kong universities’ branches and research institutes within Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area with the intention of facilitating technological transfer between regions.
In past years, the Hong Kong Sports Prize was used to honour elite athletes for their exceptional performances at major sporting events, such as the Olympics and Asian Games. Winners are determined by final event results with gold medallists receiving higher payouts than silver or bronze medallists; each can expect to make up to $2m from prize money awards.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club takes several measures to ensure the fairness of prize draws. Employees from its security and customer service departments regularly examine all materials used from packaging to transport; balls used for draws are measured, weighed and examined using X-ray; finally, its draw machine is locked after every draw.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club uses proceeds from bets to pay various taxes and charities; additionally, part of these profits go into creating its prize fund. If a draw fails to produce winners, prize money will be added to a Duo Bao Jiang jackpot which may reach 100x of what would normally be available as 1st division prize money. Therefore it is essential that bets be placed strategically. Be wary of online gambling sites which appear untrustworthy if you want to avoid being defrauded of winnings and scammed. The Hong Kong Jockey Club reserves the right to disqualify any player who breaks its rules. When the club discovers that any player has placed bets that violate its rules, they may disqualify and confiscate winnings from such bets. Such behavior constitutes a serious offense; should this occur again, legal action will likely be taken against such individuals. It is highly advised to read over their terms and conditions thoroughly before placing bets.