我們早前訪問了54位香港市民有關聖誕消費的預算，幾道問題包括︰

1. 你打算在即將來臨的聖誕節花費多少？ 

2. 這消費額比去年較多還是較少？

3. 你將如何消費？

第一題結果如上圖顯示。至於第二題呢？雖然自9月起差不多人人口邊都總有句「金融海嘯呀」，但在人們(在節日中)的消費力似乎沒有受到多大影響。有19位被訪者表示今年花費的金額與去年「差不多」，認為會花費「多了」的亦有18個。

是次調查中，會花費最多的是一個將不獲續約的公務員。他打算用大約50000元跟女友去旅行，看來他對前景並不太擔憂。

多數受訪人士都會不外乎把錢用在「買禮物」、「吃飯」之類，有人更直接答「娛樂」/「吃喝玩樂」。為甚麼在聖誕節我們特別需要「娛樂」呢？又或者該問「為甚麼在聖誕節我們特別需要要用錢的『娛樂』呢？」

眾多受訪者當中有6位表示會消費少於100元，其中4人第一題的答案更是「零蚊」！為何用上「！」呢？因為我猜想這個答案會令不少人感到驚訝。他們都說不會在這個節日特別消費，你會不會想「他們不會覺得很悶嗎？」

其實，有多少人真的有「慶祝聖誕節」的需要？最起碼，你家中的父母那幾天不也是這樣過。受訪者吳先生會用18元泡製晚餐和租電影。在消費主義橫行的這個城市，「消費」可能是無可避免的。但大家亦可以想想，真的要以「消費」來慶祝節日的話，又是否只有一種形式呢？

We have interviewed 54 Hong Kong people on their budget of Christmas consumptions, our questionnaire is as follow:

1)How much are you going to spend on the coming Christmas?

2)Is the amount more or less than the previous year?

3)How would you spend the money?

The above diagram shows the result of question no.1.  Regarding the second question, we found that most people’s expenditure (during festivals) has not been affected by from the 2008 financial crisis. 19 of the interviewees said they would spend approximately the same amount as last year. And 18 interviewees even said they would spend more than last year.

In this interview, a civil servant, who did not receive a contract renewal, get to be the the highest spender. He is going to spend $50000 on a trip with his girlfriend. It seems that he is not anxious about tomorrow.

Most of the interviewees would spend their money either on buying Christmas gifts or having Christmas dinner. Some others would generally spend on entertainments. Then, why we need entertainments badly during Christmas? Or, in another word, why we need to spend a large sum of money remarkably on entertainments during Christmas?

Among the interviewees, 6 of them stated that they would spend less than a hundred dollars. And 4 of them would not spend a dollar at all! We stress this fact because it may be surprising to many Hong Kong people. These 4 people don’t spend a dollar for Christmas, would you doubt that they will get bored in the festival?

Frankly, there may be not as many people who really need to have a Christmas celebration as you thought. For an instance, your parents may live as normal on the the Christmas day. Mr. Ng, one of the interviewees, said he would spend only 18 dollars to rent movies and to enjoy a DIY Christmas dinner. In this consumerism dominated city, we can’t avoid consuming. But is it yet another formality to celebrate a festival through consumption?

Translated by Law Bo Kent Kevin