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SCMP Reporter

You cannot go wrong with style guru  David Tang's take on the festive season

Bon viveur David Tang   offers  insight into the etiquette of gift-giving, how to be a good guest and what he  has to say to people who do not enjoy Christmas

What is the ultimate fashion gift to give or receive this year?

A Goyard  bag, initialled in bright colours. (La Maison Goyard is a century-old luggage manufacturer at 233 Rue Saint-Honore in Paris that specialises in bags  of canvas, linen, cotton and hemp. Goyard can personalise your bag with initials from  Euro50 ($500); matching colour bands are Euro80 for one side.)

What is the  ultimate gift  to put a smile on anyone's face?

A pint of oil.

Extra virgin olive oil?

Do you live on Mars and are  ignorant of the price of crude oil? (Unable to find something that resembled a pint of crude oil, he came back, smiling, with a pair of salt and pepper shakers that say 'cocaine' and  'heroin'.  He forgot  the name of the shop they  came from.)

If someone gives me an expensive gift, do I have to be as generous in return?

No. A gift is, or should be, for those who have style, an unconditional donation with no ulterior motive.

What should I buy for, say, Julia Roberts, or someone who has everything?

Anything with a little humour, and personalised with their initials.  (When asked for an example, he  chose a shaver.)

What designer gift would you suggest for under $500?

I wouldn't recommend anything  as pedestrian as a designer item.  For less than $500, I'd buy an electric  fish bowl  from Shanghai.

What is the best Christmas present you  ever received?

John Julius Norwich's   Christmas Crackers in the form of a literary pamphlet. It's  a masterpiece. (The  Christmas Cracker tradition began in 1970 as an annual Christmas gift from   Norwich to his  friends. It was inspired by Norwich's  hobby of collecting clippings after  his mother gave him a Nigerian goatskin album in the 1950s  in Beirut. Each  Christmas Cracker issue  has interesting factoids and recaps of articles.  Christmas Crackers is published every 10 years.)

How do you choose a gift for the host/hostess at a house party?

It's naff to take  a gift to a house party, unless it is 500 grams of Beluga caviar or 10 oranges wrapped traditionally in a brown paper bag with a red square on top with a brightly  coloured string.

What is the best bottle of wine to take to a dinner party where you don't know what food is on the menu?

Petrus 61  (cost: $76,000 at Island Shangri-La's restaurant Petrus)

What are you planning to give to your family for Christmas?

Love, honesty and attitude.

What would you give to Arrigo Cipriani, your venture partner in Cipriani's  restaurant?

A light bulb, because he likes his restaurants really bright. Everyone complains that Cipriani is too bright, but that is the way he likes it.

If you were to take someone special to a Christmas dinner, where would you go?

In front of the television.

Some people have Christmas phobia.    What would you give them to rekindle their festive spirit?

A recording of Bach's Christmas Oratorio. If they don't like it, they don't deserve to be cheered up at Christmas.



The art of giving ...