Feature Articles

For many young people Christmas in Hong Kong’s highly commercial culture means they feel they have to spend a lot of money on lavish gifts, extravagant meals and luxury outings for their girlfriends and boyfriends. To encourage young people to find creative, meaningful yet inexpensive things to do on dates, the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK) and a local newspaper SCMP Young Post launched a competition titled “Sweet Journey 99” in December 2009. This activity is part of FPAHK’s ongoing initiative to educate young people on the true meaning of love, and how to develop and benefit from a responsible and healthy attitude to interpersonal relationships.

Young couples aged 16 to 30 are invited to submit proposals for a Christmas date comprising three activities to take place over four hours – all on a budget of HK$99. Each couple will be assigned a mystery task during the Sweet Journey to test their problem solving skills. On 5 December, three shortlisted couples went on their dates and 17 year-old Ho Lok-yiu and 19 year-old Chan Wai-chung, both Form Six students, won the contest.

The winning couple spent HK49.80 on Christmas accessories to get dressed up for the date and they took pictures together in front of the Christmas displays and the harbor. The photos were developed for HK$28 and made into a photo album. For the mystery task, they were asked to interview a newly-wed couple on how to keep their partner happy. The young couple ingeniously went to a nearby wedding banquet hall and successfully interviewed a couple who married that night. To wrap up the date they each enjoyed a bottle of warm soy milk at a total cost of HK$13. They spent a further HK$7.80 to take the MTR from Tsim Sha Tsui back to the FPAHK headquarters, concluding the fun date that cost a total of HK$98.60.

Ho expressed that it was not difficult to plan dating activities within the budget of HK$99. Usually, they just studied in a library or hang out around the neighborhood. Chan also commented that the date helped him to know his girl friend better.