'Free Ocean Park Tickets Not Tied To Govt Aid'

Ocean Park has rejected suggestions that it only agreed to hand out 10,000 free tickets to local students in order to secure HK$310 million in government funding.

The massive handout to the loss-making theme park was announced in last month's budget, with the money to be spent on 'education and tourism projects.'

The park's deputy chairman Lau Ming-wai said the grant was a "well-meaning" move on the part of the government, and the park only wants to use the free tickets as a way to "give back to society".

Its chief executive, Matthias Li, said he hopes more details of exactly how the tickets will be distributed will be announced in about a month.

Li said they hope to identify schools and students that have a particularly strong interest in nature conservation.