We hear a lot about the middle classes. Politicians woo them, financial secretaries soothe them and retailers pursue them. Real estate developers zealously target them; the taxman loves them; they fill the public coffers. Everyone talks about them; few agree on who or what they are.
How do people qualify as members of this mythical median? Is it by income, address, possessions, education or inclination? Does a university degree automatically guarantee entry? Or is it how much money you have in the bank?
Opinions differ. If you accept a middle-class person is someone on a three-year contract earning $54,000 a month, that puts everyone's favourite radical firmly into the bracket. But should you tell 'Long-Hair' Leung Kwok-hung he is a member of the bourgeoisie, he would instantly stage an irate demonstration and burn his Che Guevara T-shirt in protest.
Mr Leung says 'the middle class is the middle of nowhere. You can't classify them by social sector. Just because you own property doesn't necessarily make you middle class. A guy who pays a mortgage for his flat owes the bank; is he middle class?
'And it can't be generalised by education. If you graduated from university 30 years ago, you would be middle class. These days, some graduates get $8,000 and do a donkey job.'
Just who is middle class vexes veteran pop star Anders Nelsson. I asked him and he polled eight friends. The consensus was that it depends solely on income; to make the middle-class grade you have to earn about $40,000.
