Letters | Spread the joy in Hong Kong: donate your HK$10,000 handout
- The combined happiness level of those who pledged their HK$10,000 handout and recipients of their kindness in a pilot scheme was significantly higher than if those who did not really need the cash held on to it
Before the handout was announced, there was almost no difference in the happiness levels of donors and recipients, with the former rating their happiness at 5.2 and the latter at 5.0, on a scale of 1 to 10. After the government’s announcement of the handout, the happiness levels of donors and recipients increased to 5.6 and 7.7, respectively.
With the additional HK$10,000 campaign, the happiness levels of donors and recipients increased to 8.2 and 8.3 respectively. If the original recipients had kept the handout instead of sharing it, the combined satisfaction level would only be 13.3, whereas, with this scheme, it was 16.5. It seems that a win-win situation has been achieved.
The gain for the donor is marginal, but the impact on the needy family is significant. When we asked donors how they would spend the HK$10,000 if they did not donate it, the items they listed were expendable and consumable. The items that the recipients listed were essentials.
Eighty-five per cent of donors felt that “others needing the money more” was one of the major reasons they chose to participate in the programme.
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What we have learned from this pilot study is that the overall happiness level can be increased if those that already have enough are willing to share. It is encouraging that the pilot study has been taken to a new stage with the support of the Lok Sin Tong Society, which volunteered to handle the administrative work involved in collecting the donation and distributing it to families in need.
Paul Yip, associate dean (research), Faculty of Social Science, University of Hong Kong
