by Rachel Lovelock
On October 12th 2002, the first round of the Bali 10’s rugby tournament took place on the rugby pitch beside the Grand Bali Beach Hotel in Sanur, featuring members of competing Asian expatriate teams including teams from Jakarta, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and Taipei. Later that night, 27 of those players and spectators were killed in the Kuta bomb blast.
Prior to the tragedy the occasion had been a joyful reunion, which ended with the Hong Kong Football Club losing 12 friends and team mates, a few of whom had already left Hong Kong and moved on to other places and new teams within the region. Several other people from Hong Kong were severely injured.
After the tragedy, the Hong Kong Rugby community resolved to raise funds to provide for the relatives of these 12 victims and the injured survivors who had been associated with Hong Kong. The ‘Hong Kong Rugby Bali Fund’ was established jointly by the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union and the Hong Kong Football Club and by their fund-raising events and the collection of donations from the community in Hong Kong and rugby supporters around the world, they have raised a staggering HK$7 million, far exceeding any other private Bali-related fundraising efforts globally. The contributors also deeply wanted to support the victims of the Bali tragedy by providing assistance to the most vulnerable victims, the children whose lives have been changed by the loss or injury of a parent. So out of the $HK7 million raised, they decided to donate US$110,000, more than 10% of the gross receipts of the fund, to the YKIP-YKIDS Scholarship Project. This generous donation represents approximately one third of the money that will be required to educate 50 of the children.
The aim of the YKIP-YKIDS Scholarship Project is to provide for the educational needs of the 50 Balinese children who lost a parent and also to provide for the needs of the 80 children who had a parent incapacitated by the bomb, until such time that the parent has recovered.
On January 2nd 2004, representatives and friends of the Hong Kong Football Club, including Ariane Walton, the widow of one of the Hong Kong victims, met with representatives of YKIP, two of the Balinese widows and their six young children. They gathered beside the memorial at the rugby field adjacent to the Grand Bali Beach Hotel. Robin Bredbury who also attended representing the Hong Kong Football Club said “It’s good to be in Bali, in person, and to meet some of the children and see where the funds are going. I’m sure that everyone who has made a donation will be very happy with the outcome”.
The cheque for US$110,000 was presented to YKIP by Ariane Walton. Ariane’s husband Clive Walton was the Club Captain of the Rugby Section of Hong Kong Football Club and was one of the victims. In making the presentation, Ariane said she was very pleased to be in Bali presenting the donation on behalf of the Hong Kong Rugby Bali Fund and she wished the best for everyone. YKIP expressed their gratitude on behalf of all the Balinese children of the bomb victims.
Further information about the YKIP-YKIDS Scholarship Project is available at YKIDS
30 January 2004
