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Culture on Demand: Two Thousand Zero Zero
Party over? It's just beginning
By STAN STALNAKER
December 11, 1999
Web posted at 1 a.m. Hong Kong time, 12 p.m. EDT
There's a rule of thumb about holiday parties. It dictates that the amount of corporate Christmas cocktail invitations one receives is in direct proportion to: 1) the spectacle one made of him or herself the year prior; 2) the size of their annual budget.
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Everyone must have seen budget increases for 2000, because a certain festive buzz is already in the air. For once, "buzz" has nothing to do with WTO, Y2K, B2B or any of the other alphabet-soup concoctions that occupy our attention normally. Ah, Christmas. La Navidad. Sing dan jeet.
This year, with such a bright 2000 in the making, the holiday circuit is on fire, with hotels and restaurants grinning all the way. Sure, flights and hotels may be empty for Y2K, but the region is cashing in on pre-Christmas.
It seems to have started earlier than normal, but everyone says that every year. Still...by mid-November Manila was in full swing, with hotels and their golden garlands and shiny bulbs leading the vanguard of festivity. The holiday's "true spirit" is even present along the streets, where flip-flops are sold alongside gigantic glow stars and box sets of string lights.
Hong Kong was about a week behind, but still managed a 24-meter neon Snoopy and several dragons snaking their way through the skyline before December even dawned.
It used to be that complaints would start when the marketing machine promptly switched on during the last week of November. "It's too early, it's too commercial...." But that was back before we had real things to complain about, like currency crashes, sagging tourist arrivals and figuring out why Prada's fall collection was so awful.
Thus, the invites start arriving in November and "the rounds" have begun. A Buddhist friend called to tell me her schedule: "Monday is reserved for lawyers and yoga mates. Tuesday for clients, Wednesday for clients. Thursday work colleagues. Friday friends. Saturday a masked ball. Sunday afternoon BBQ with Santa."
Never mind that it's all the same people! And she doesn't even celebrate Christmas! There should be a Palm Pilot program that schedules these events, with a warning message that alerts you when you've triple booked. Double booked is O.K., since you wouldn't ever want to NOT be missing something. "Oh, I was supposed to go, but I had to be somewhere else instead..."
At least the shopping is getting easier, so we can concentrate on all the peace, love and goodwill toward men and 2000 budget revisions we should be thinking about. Thanks to Godiva.com and Amazon.com, much of the world can be taken care of in a few clicks. But beware: such gifts seem impersonal, because people know how easy it is. Believe me, I know, having tried to cut corners on birthday shopping in the fall.
This season Asia has a lot to be celebrating. We haven't had to deal with Y2K yet. Bali is relatively peaceful. Pokémon is popular and Sony is producing more Aibo robot dogs. So hunker down, say yes to your caterer, put on your glitter dress or wingtip shoes and think to yourself, "Just two more weeks of chaos, then I can relax over New Year's."
Isn't it ironic? We've fooled the press, the marketing gurus and the pundits, who have been predicting a big bang New Year since Prince first wore purple sequins and sang about his midnight plans.
Now everyone is wondering why it's looking quiet for millennium. It's not Y2K. Or overhype. The real buzz, the real party, is going on right now, and by the end of December everyone will be at home, exhausted by the six weeks before Christmas.
Unless we rally. Which we probably will.
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