On March 1, 2006 Manulife (International) Limited launched a HK$2-million sports scholarship program for local elite athletes. The scholarship, called the "Manulife Hong Kong Sports Scholarship Programme", aims to assist Hong Kong elite athletes to better prepare and strive for their best in the coming Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The Manulife Hong Kong Sports Sponsorship Program also aims to contribute to the overall development of sport in Hong Kong and to reinforce Manulfe's commitment to promoting the aims and ideals of the Olympic Movement to the local public.

The program will run for a period of two years, under two phases. Under the first phase of the Program, 10 elite local athletes were selected to each receive a total subsidy of HK$100,000 from June 2006 to May 2007, towards the cost of their training, coaching, medical and scientific monitoring. A total of 24 applications from 13 National Sports Associations were received, and the Selection Committee consisted of the Federations' Vic President Mr. F.K. Hu and its two Honorary Deputy Secretary Generals, Mr. Ronnie Wong and Prof. Leung Mee Lee to assess and evaluate all applications.

With the help of the Program, four of the 10 awardees attained excellent results at the DOHA Asian Games held in December 2006. These were: Ms Yip Pui Yin (silver medal in Women's Badminton), Ms Chan Wai Kei (silver medal in Women's Mistral), Ms Hannah Wilson (bronze medal in Women's Swimming) and Mr. Leung Chu Yan (bronze medal in Men's Table Tennis).

"We are thrilled by the results and the performances of our awardees, especially the 'Mighty Four', who brought great pride and honour to Hong Kong by winning medals at the DOHA Asian Games," said Michael Huddart, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Hong Kong, Manulife (International) Limited. "So far, we have every confidence that the Program is working as it was planned to do and that our chosen athletes are benefiting hugely from it. We believe that it would not be over-ambitious to hope that as a result of this initiative, Hong Kong could achieve its best-ever Olympic medals tally in 2008."

The second phase of the Program was opened for applications from March 23 to April 4, 2007. All nominations were assessed and evaluated by the Selection Committee, comprising Mr. F. K. Hu, Vice President of the SF&OC, and its two Honorary Deputy Secretary Generals, Mr. Ronnie Wong and Prof. Leung Mee Lee, assessed and evaluated all the nominations to determine the final awardees. Results of the second-phase program was announced in May 2007.

Among the 10 chosen as scholarship awardees under Phase II, five also participated in the first phase, achieving outstanding performances in international competitions during the period.

"The Olympics is a global test of excellence and only the best will prevail. We believe our scholarship qualifiers have the potential to make history at the coming Beijing Olympic Games and we look forward to their historic achievements," said Mr. Huddart.