Press Release

INXS Headlines Act at FCC Charity Ball

Australian rock legends lead musical lineup at Hong Kong’s liveliest ball!

(Hong Kong, 1 August 2012) – Australia’s most famous rock export, INXS, and a child prodigy guitarist from Japan will take to the stage at this year’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club Charity Ball.

Described by numerous publications as a highlight of Hong Kong’s social calendar, the black tie event is now in its 11th year and this year welcomes more than 1,500 guests in the Grand Hall of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday, October 6th 2012.

INXS fans will hear hits like , Afterglow, , , What You Need, Devil Inside, , .

INXS has sold 30 million records worldwide, won 7 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards, and nominations for various international music awards. Need You Tonight won 5 MTV Video Music Awards and the song was featured in the 2000 film Coyote Ugly.

Other entertainers performing at this year’s ball include the Venetian Macau troupe and a guest appearance by Japanese child prodigy/rock guitarist Yuto Miyazawa.

INXS follows a long list of famous performers at the ball that includes the Doobie Brothers, Beach Boys, Blondie, Sergio Mendes, the Charlie Daniels Band and Credence Clearwater Revisited.

The FCC Annual Charity Ball has raised more than HK$ 42 million to support the education of Hong Kong’s neediest children and other projects which include the Po Leung Kuk/UBS/FCC Language Training Program, the Po Leung Kuk/Merrill Lynch/FCC Children's Learning Centre, the Po Leung Kuk/UBS/FCC Child Development Program, the Po Leung Kuk/Henrik Nielsen/FCC Scholarship Fund and the Po Leung Kuk/Sprouts Foundation/FCC Education Services Centre.

Tickets for this year’s ball are priced at HK$ 2,188 which includes pre-dinner cocktails, four- course gourmet dinner with wine and an unforgettable night with INXS. All drinks are free courtesy of the charity ball’s generous wine and liquor sponsors.

To reserve tickets, please contact the FCC on Tel. (852) 2521 1511 or email Hoi-Lo Chan at [email protected].

Funds raised for the various FCC Charity Fund projects come from generous corporate and individual donations with additional funding through the Charity Ball Raffle Draw with attractive top prizes such as a Chopard limited edition watch, airline tickets and hotel accommodations.

A particular highlight of the Ball is the eagerly awaited Live and Silent Auction of music and sport memorabilia, luxurious vacation packages, jewelry and accessories. Most of the live auction items can be viewed at the FCC Main Bar starting on September 6th.

About the FCC Charity Fund

The FCC Charity Fund is very proud of the community service projects the charity ball has funded since 2002. The FCC Scholarship Fund was set up to help underprivileged children who wish to pursue tertiary education. To date, the Scholarship Fund has awarded 99 scholarships; 63 scholars have graduated and 36 are currently in university. The graduated scholars are working as lawyers, nurses, accountants, bankers and some are entrepreneurs running their own businesses.

In 2005, the Language Training Program (LTP) was launched at the Po Leung Kuk (PLK) headquarters in Causeway Bay that teaches English and Putonghua to the PLK’s 300 children in residential care, aged 2 to 18 years old. The program was launched to address the need of Hong Kong employers for a multilingual work force fluent in Cantonese, English and Putonghua. The Po Leung Kuk/UBS/FCC Language Training Program offers extra-curricular English and Putonghua tuition through a system that makes learning a foreign language fun, interesting and stimulating.

In 2009, the Po Leung Kuk/Merrill Lynch/FCC Children's Learning Centre (CLC) and the Po Leung Kuk/UBS/FCC Child Development Program (CDP) opened in Lei Muk Shue to provide language training and family and child development services to the estate residents in the area. With

increased funding from UBS in 2010, the CDP was able to set up the Baby College, a service that works closely with pregnant women and their families and provides structured parent and child programs to help the baby have a complete developmental workout and improve the relationship between young children and their parents.

In 2011, the Po Leung Kuk/Sprouts Foundation/FCC Education Services Centre in Tai Wai started teaching English to primary school children. Students come from disadvantaged families where 22% of the area’s adult population has been educated no further than primary school. Parents with little formal education face great difficulty in helping their own children develop further. The centre can accommodate 120 students.

Donations The FCC Charity Fund welcomes donations in cash or kind and these can be channeled thru Ms. Mireya Garcia at [email protected]. To receive more information about the fund-raising activities of the FCC Charity Fund and its work with Po Leung Kuk, please visit http://www.fcchkcharityfund.com or the Po Leung Kuk web site at www.poleungkuk.org.hk

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Issued on behalf of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club Hong Kong Annual Charity Ball Committee:

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Boots Moyer Tel: (+852) 9850 6839 Email: [email protected]