ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to chart some fundamental issues concerning the consumption patterns of a sub-section of Hong Kong’s new rich.1 Risking charges of over-generalisation, the ‘new’ in the term ‘new rich’ generally refers to those relatively new wealthy social groups which have emerged during post-war economic development. Being a relational concept, it follows that attempts to define the ‘new rich’ in a particular society on the basis of predetermined criteria-e.g. ethnicity, absolute wealth, sociopolitical orientation, occupation or mobility-would be meaningless.2 In the case of Hong Kong, the ‘new rich’ in the 1990s can be seen as consisting of entrepreneurs and businessmen, as well as professionals, administrators and managers, and these categories can be further subdivided by age.3
