It is that time of year again, when the rush to buy presents and attend various parties and receptions battles with tradition that tries to keep religion at the centre of Christmas.
For a predominantly Catholic society like Malta, Christmas represents Christ’s birth; however, the question of whether this feast has retained its religious roots or has become a celebration of consumerism crops up year after year.
The question is possibly a reflection of the changes all Western capitalist democracies have gone through in the past century and yet in the struggle between the holy and the profane, there is no clear winner.
In a survey commissioned by The Sunday Times and carried out by Misco, a majority of 47 per cent still viewed Christmas as a religious feast as opposed to 44 per cent who viewed it as a commercial activity.
Women tended to be better standard bearers for religion with an absolute majority (53 per cent) who viewed Christmas as a religious celebration.This contrasted deeply with men’s views. According to the survey, only 42 per cent of men consider Christmas to be a religious event while 47 per cent see it is a commercial celebration.
A clearer response emerged when people were asked whether Christmas has lost its significance, with 79 per cent saying it has, and 75 per cent admitting that this state of affairs bothered them.
While 85 per cent of women said they were bothered that Christmas has lost its significance, this figure dropped to 65 per cent for men. However, this overwhelming belief that Christmas has lost its soul contrasts with what people said they would do when asked whether they planned to attend Christmas Mass.
According to the survey, 67 per cent planned to attend - as opposed to 31 per cent who had no such plans. And once again, more women than men (72 per cent versus 62 per cent) said they planned to attend Christmas Mass.
Babysitter MPs... not a good idea
The New Year’s Eve gala dinner is just around the corner but one question has yet to be answered: who will babysit the children?
Well, if the choice of babysitters were limited to the 69 Members of Parliament, they would probably struggle to find jobs as child minders.
When asked who they would trust to babysit their children, an overwhelming majority of respondents (32 per cent) in The Sunday Times Christmas survey wrote off the MPs, saying they would not leave their children with any of them.
Of those who did mention names, Labour leader Joseph Muscat topped the list as the choice babysitter for eight per cent of respondents.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi ranked second with five per cent saying they would trust him to babysit their children.
Rural Affairs minister George Pullicino and Labour Gozitan MP Justyne Caruana came in third with four per cent of respondents showing faith in their babysitting qualities.
The rest of the crop were detached from the top four names, with some barely making it to the two per cent mark and the rest not even obtaining the trust of one per cent of respondents.
With people generally unable to trust their children with MPs it still has to be seen whether this is a reflection of how well they trust them with running the country’s affairs.
Spending your money
Valletta remains by far the shopping Mecca of choice with 30 per cent of people polled in The Sunday Times Christmas survey saying they bought their gifts from the capital city.
As expected, the second most popular shopping centre was Sliema, just across the harbour, with 17 per cent of people buying their gifts from there.
Next in line, but way below the top two localities, came the major commercial centres that straddle the islands. Six per cent of respondents said Gozo’s capital, Victoria, was their place of choice to buy presents, with Paola favoured by five per cent.
Birkirkara and Mosta, two of the largest towns, that have strong commercial communities, were the places of choice for four per cent.
Online shopping was the preferred option of three per cent of those polled; as many as those who opted for Ħamrun. The gift-buying custom is a bonus for retailers at this time of the year, but with 42 per cent of people saying they spent the same as last year on presents, it is hard to gauge what impact this will have on shopkeepers’ balance sheets.
According to the survey, 22 per cent said they expected to spend more on gifts than last year but this was overshadowed by a higher percentage of people (33 per cent) who said they would spend less.
Christmas time is also the holiday season but for many this does not mean overseas travel.
The vast majority, 95 per cent, said they had no plans to go abroad.
Methodology
The Sunday Times Christmas survey was conducted by Misco International Ltd. The survey randomly polled 300 respondents and was conducted by telephone between December 16 and 18. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.8 per cent.