It’s not wise to judge a book by its cover, and to judge how wealthy a person is from their appearance is even more hit and miss. There are plenty of them floating around us any time, and the Frankfurt Airport and Munich are a couple of places where they are more easily spotted.
At the Frankfurt Airport it took me 20 minutes to receive my 13 euro tourist tax refund. The culprit was a very slow-moving queue of people who would submit multiple receipts with forms that were filled incorrectly or incompletely, including a Russian man who submitted almost 20 receipts. Then there was a Chinese woman who asked me for help with translation. I told her that the staff could pay her refund only in US dollars but not euros, and charge-back to her credit card was not allowed since the amount was a stunning 3000 euros! Based on the general 20 % sales tax rate across Europe and tax refund would usually give back only 70 % of the tax, I estimated that the woman would have purchased at least 20000 euros worth of goods. I wondered what she has actually bought and whether all the goods were for herself or also for others, but regardless I was awed by such purchasing power. I think the tax refund staff would even scoff at my measly 13 euros.
But most amazingly, these rich people just look like you and me, and if you had met them somewhere away from the tax refund office, they would not have left you with any particularly striking impression. I also happened to catch a glimpse of the Chinese woman’s boarding card, and she was sitting in economy class only (although there’s a big price range from full fare economy to discount economy and I have no way of knowing what ticket she holds). If anything, these people do know how to disguise their wealth very well.
When I talked about this with my Chinese colleagues back in Melbourne, they weren’t surprised by this at all. One of them even gave the example of those entrepreneurs from Wenzhou, famous all over China for their wealth and entrepreneurship. They tend to keep a low profile when they travelled abroad in groups; they would only chew on instant noodles and stay in very simple accommodation. But when it comes to business negotiations, investments or procurements, they will splurge out ruthlessly. I guess that it’s the frugality and sharp business wit that have kept the Wenzhou entrepreneurs in their extremely good stead.
所謂人不可貌相，這個世界原來有錢人甚多，而且往往不為我們察覺，在法蘭克福機場和慕尼黑就令我大開眼界。
我在法蘭克福機場，為了13歐元的退稅，在一條移動緩慢的人龍等了20分鐘，我前面的每個人一次過都會遞上好幾張發票和表格給職員處理，加上他們的表格甚少沒有錯填漏填，所以排隊才是如此費時，最厲害的是一個俄羅斯遊客，一遞交便是差不多二十張發票，另有個中國女人，我替她翻譯，我告訴她，職員祇可以把退稅以美元支付而不可用歐元，也不可過戶至其信用卡，因為金額有3000歐元。我心不禁吃了一驚，以歐洲一般的消費稅率是20%左右，退稅大約祇會退7成稅款計算，單是一個女人便買了大約2萬歐元的貨品，究竟她買了甚麼、是買給自己還是走水貨？不管答案如何，我不得不對這股強大的消費力感歎，我的區區13歐元，相信連退稅的職員也會瞧不起！
但更令我驚歎的是，這些高消費族其貌不揚，從這些人的打扮，你根本不可能一眼認定他們特別富貴，而我也湊巧瞥見那個中國女人的登機證，她也祇是乘坐經濟客位而已（不過經濟艙機票，正價和特價相差甚遠，我是無法得知她的是哪種機票），用廣東俗語來說就是「禾稈冚（掩）珍珠」。
後來回到澳洲，跟來自國內的同事談起，他們說這種人多的是，尤其是以經商聞名的溫州人，他們一團人出國時祇啃方便麵（即食麵），住宿也是能省則省，但一到談生意、出錢採購和投資時，則絕不手軟，也許儉和狠，就是溫州人的致富之道。
The reason why I had to queue for tax refund was because I bought a couple of handbags for my sisters-in-law in Munich the day before. It was one of the more common and popular brands, but certainly not the two or three most luxurious/expensive brands (of course none of us in the family can afford those!) If the day at Frankfurt Airport has shown me how many rich people there are in this world, that day in Munich has let me see what rich kids are like.
While I was choosing between the different colours of the handbags, a mum came into the shop with her 6- or 7-year-old daughter and let her try on the different handbags to see which one the young one liked the best. With exposure to such good things at this tender age, the girl will no doubt develop a finer and more critical taste in the times to come. The mum, meanwhile, must be quite well to do and have enough money to indulge her daughter with such luxury goods!
When I returned to the guest house after a day of shopping, I couldn’t help but pay attention to an 8- to 9-year-old lad sitting near me in the underground train. He looked smart and sporty in his outfit, consisting from head to toe of brand-name beanie, windcheater, backpack, jeans and skateboard shoes. I was actually pretty jealous of him, because if I were to own the same outfit, it would in fact cost quite a fortune. Children’s clothing often cost cheaper than adults’, but still there must be parents who can afford these popular brands.
Those two are not the only kids who have such wealthy parents. I read about a group of Australian secondary school pupils going on a school camp in Africa. Each of them (their parents, rather) had to fork out A$ 9000 (HK$ 70000, 6670 euros, US$ 9000) to join – consider that some families in Australia may even struggle to find A$ 90 for some standard extra-curricular activities for their children! But those kids in the camp were too spoilt and indulged in drug-taking during the trip, and copped some rather severe punishment from the school. They are probably too rich for their own good.
我之所以要花時間辦退稅，是因為前一天仍在慕尼黑時為兩個弟媳婦買手袋，品牌挺流行但絕不是最高／昂貴的那兩三個（我們當然還沒那麼富貴！）那天購物令我對「富二代」這個新名詞的認識不再停留在概念方面，教我看到他們的真面貌。
我在挑選手袋顏色時，有個媽媽帶六七歲左右的小女孩入商店，讓女孩試戴不同款式的手袋後品評一番，年紀小小便有機會認識時款手袋，相信長大後一定懂得追求更潮更高級的了，當然那個媽媽應該是有個餘錢的人，才有能力帶引女孩進入高檔之門了。
購物後坐地鐵回宿舍，離我不遠有個八、九歲的男孩，穿得很運動家型很帥，從頭到腳，毛線帽（冷帽）、擋風外套（風褸）、背包（背囊）、牛仔褲、滑板鞋，無一不是名牌仔，看得我也有一點點妒忌，如果我也買同一套裝束，不祇是我，我的錢包也會覺得肉疼心疼！當然童裝價錢可能會比成人便宜，但這個男孩正讓我看出他父母的家底應該不錯。
要說家底豐厚，不得不提一班有幸參加一個非洲遊學團的澳洲學生，該團每人盛惠9000澳元（7萬港元、6670歐元、9000美元），很多澳洲家長從日常開支中挖90澳元給子女參加一般的課外活動也談何容易呢！但是該班非洲團的小混混，卻身在福中不知福，到了非洲後迷上吸毒，結果被校方重罰甚至開除，這些不長進的「富二代」，說得不客氣一點，就是「二世祖」。
At the Frankfurt Airport it took me 20 minutes to receive my 13 euro tourist tax refund. The culprit was a very slow-moving queue of people who would submit multiple receipts with forms that were filled incorrectly or incompletely, including a Russian man who submitted almost 20 receipts. Then there was a Chinese woman who asked me for help with translation. I told her that the staff could pay her refund only in US dollars but not euros, and charge-back to her credit card was not allowed since the amount was a stunning 3000 euros! Based on the general 20 % sales tax rate across Europe and tax refund would usually give back only 70 % of the tax, I estimated that the woman would have purchased at least 20000 euros worth of goods. I wondered what she has actually bought and whether all the goods were for herself or also for others, but regardless I was awed by such purchasing power. I think the tax refund staff would even scoff at my measly 13 euros.
But most amazingly, these rich people just look like you and me, and if you had met them somewhere away from the tax refund office, they would not have left you with any particularly striking impression. I also happened to catch a glimpse of the Chinese woman’s boarding card, and she was sitting in economy class only (although there’s a big price range from full fare economy to discount economy and I have no way of knowing what ticket she holds). If anything, these people do know how to disguise their wealth very well.
When I talked about this with my Chinese colleagues back in Melbourne, they weren’t surprised by this at all. One of them even gave the example of those entrepreneurs from Wenzhou, famous all over China for their wealth and entrepreneurship. They tend to keep a low profile when they travelled abroad in groups; they would only chew on instant noodles and stay in very simple accommodation. But when it comes to business negotiations, investments or procurements, they will splurge out ruthlessly. I guess that it’s the frugality and sharp business wit that have kept the Wenzhou entrepreneurs in their extremely good stead.
所謂人不可貌相，這個世界原來有錢人甚多，而且往往不為我們察覺，在法蘭克福機場和慕尼黑就令我大開眼界。
我在法蘭克福機場，為了13歐元的退稅，在一條移動緩慢的人龍等了20分鐘，我前面的每個人一次過都會遞上好幾張發票和表格給職員處理，加上他們的表格甚少沒有錯填漏填，所以排隊才是如此費時，最厲害的是一個俄羅斯遊客，一遞交便是差不多二十張發票，另有個中國女人，我替她翻譯，我告訴她，職員祇可以把退稅以美元支付而不可用歐元，也不可過戶至其信用卡，因為金額有3000歐元。我心不禁吃了一驚，以歐洲一般的消費稅率是20%左右，退稅大約祇會退7成稅款計算，單是一個女人便買了大約2萬歐元的貨品，究竟她買了甚麼、是買給自己還是走水貨？不管答案如何，我不得不對這股強大的消費力感歎，我的區區13歐元，相信連退稅的職員也會瞧不起！
但更令我驚歎的是，這些高消費族其貌不揚，從這些人的打扮，你根本不可能一眼認定他們特別富貴，而我也湊巧瞥見那個中國女人的登機證，她也祇是乘坐經濟客位而已（不過經濟艙機票，正價和特價相差甚遠，我是無法得知她的是哪種機票），用廣東俗語來說就是「禾稈冚（掩）珍珠」。
後來回到澳洲，跟來自國內的同事談起，他們說這種人多的是，尤其是以經商聞名的溫州人，他們一團人出國時祇啃方便麵（即食麵），住宿也是能省則省，但一到談生意、出錢採購和投資時，則絕不手軟，也許儉和狠，就是溫州人的致富之道。
* * *
The reason why I had to queue for tax refund was because I bought a couple of handbags for my sisters-in-law in Munich the day before. It was one of the more common and popular brands, but certainly not the two or three most luxurious/expensive brands (of course none of us in the family can afford those!) If the day at Frankfurt Airport has shown me how many rich people there are in this world, that day in Munich has let me see what rich kids are like.
While I was choosing between the different colours of the handbags, a mum came into the shop with her 6- or 7-year-old daughter and let her try on the different handbags to see which one the young one liked the best. With exposure to such good things at this tender age, the girl will no doubt develop a finer and more critical taste in the times to come. The mum, meanwhile, must be quite well to do and have enough money to indulge her daughter with such luxury goods!
When I returned to the guest house after a day of shopping, I couldn’t help but pay attention to an 8- to 9-year-old lad sitting near me in the underground train. He looked smart and sporty in his outfit, consisting from head to toe of brand-name beanie, windcheater, backpack, jeans and skateboard shoes. I was actually pretty jealous of him, because if I were to own the same outfit, it would in fact cost quite a fortune. Children’s clothing often cost cheaper than adults’, but still there must be parents who can afford these popular brands.
Those two are not the only kids who have such wealthy parents. I read about a group of Australian secondary school pupils going on a school camp in Africa. Each of them (their parents, rather) had to fork out A$ 9000 (HK$ 70000, 6670 euros, US$ 9000) to join – consider that some families in Australia may even struggle to find A$ 90 for some standard extra-curricular activities for their children! But those kids in the camp were too spoilt and indulged in drug-taking during the trip, and copped some rather severe punishment from the school. They are probably too rich for their own good.
我之所以要花時間辦退稅，是因為前一天仍在慕尼黑時為兩個弟媳婦買手袋，品牌挺流行但絕不是最高／昂貴的那兩三個（我們當然還沒那麼富貴！）那天購物令我對「富二代」這個新名詞的認識不再停留在概念方面，教我看到他們的真面貌。
我在挑選手袋顏色時，有個媽媽帶六七歲左右的小女孩入商店，讓女孩試戴不同款式的手袋後品評一番，年紀小小便有機會認識時款手袋，相信長大後一定懂得追求更潮更高級的了，當然那個媽媽應該是有個餘錢的人，才有能力帶引女孩進入高檔之門了。
購物後坐地鐵回宿舍，離我不遠有個八、九歲的男孩，穿得很運動家型很帥，從頭到腳，毛線帽（冷帽）、擋風外套（風褸）、背包（背囊）、牛仔褲、滑板鞋，無一不是名牌仔，看得我也有一點點妒忌，如果我也買同一套裝束，不祇是我，我的錢包也會覺得肉疼心疼！當然童裝價錢可能會比成人便宜，但這個男孩正讓我看出他父母的家底應該不錯。
要說家底豐厚，不得不提一班有幸參加一個非洲遊學團的澳洲學生，該團每人盛惠9000澳元（7萬港元、6670歐元、9000美元），很多澳洲家長從日常開支中挖90澳元給子女參加一般的課外活動也談何容易呢！但是該班非洲團的小混混，卻身在福中不知福，到了非洲後迷上吸毒，結果被校方重罰甚至開除，這些不長進的「富二代」，說得不客氣一點，就是「二世祖」。
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