“The Spirit of Hong Kong” campaign kicked off in July with an online contest calling on Hong Kong people to submit creative entries that illustrate the true spirit of the city. The airline’s aim was to encourage Hong Kong people to share their thoughts on what makes the city so special, and instil positive values into the community by promoting its extraordinary spirit. 

The contest attracted more than 5,000 entries illustrating the spirit of Hong Kong and what the city means to the contestants. Two-hundred weekly winners were selected by public voting, and a judging panel then selected 100 Top Winners and 10 Champions whose entries best represented the spirit of Hong Kong in terms of the relevance of the message, the ability to inspire, creativity and presentation quality.

A total of 620 round-trip tickets were given to the winners to enjoy trips to destinations around the networks of Cathay Pacific and sister airline Dragonair.

At a media event today, Cathay Pacific Director Corporate Affairs Chitty Cheung thanked Hong Kong people for their great response to the contest and praised the quality of the entries received.

“We were delighted to see so many highly inspiring and creative entries submitted for this campaign. Participants from different social backgrounds and age groups gave us their own interpretations of what constitutes the spirit of Hong Kong, providing their own unique perspectives. Some entrants even shared their own inspirational personal stories to illustrate this spirit,” Ms Cheung said.

“The participants shared qualities such as perseverance, being accommodating, solidarity, creativity, having a human touch and cultural integration, all of which are qualities shared and valued by most of the people in Hong Kong,” she added.

Among the 10 Champions from “The Spirit of Hong Kong” campaign is Mr Tam Chi-ming, who refused to let his physical disability prevent him from achieving his dreams. His determination and positive attitude helped him excel in archery and he since represented Hong Kong in numerous international competitions. “I could have found thousands of excuses to give up but I chose to persevere. Determination enables every single one of us to unleash our potential,” Mr Tam said.

Another winner was Jeorge Petris, a five-year-old girl born in Hong Kong, who submitted a photo in which she and her best friend Jennifer were feeding birthday cake to each other at their birthday party. The Petris family loves the blend of east and west in Hong Kong and to them the spirit of the city means “everyone coming together as one”.

Mr Tam and Jeorge, along with the eight other Champions and 100 Top Winners, will get the chance to have their personal silhouettes featured on livery that will soon be painted onto Cathay Pacific’s latest “Spirit of Hong Kong” aircraft. The livery is due to be unveiled at a special ceremony in December.

Cathay Pacific began highlighting the “Spirit of Hong Kong” in 1997, when the airline created a special livery for one of its aircraft that showcased the Hong Kong skyline in celebration of the transfer of sovereignty. In 2000, the airline unveiled its second “Spirit of Hong Kong” aircraft, created through a livery design competition, that highlighted the resilience of Hong Kong and urged people to come together to overcome the challenges the city faced.