Red packets or angpau is a tradition held by Chinese culture for a long time, dating back to the Qin Dynasty which was around 221 - 206 BCE (more than 2,000 years ago).
There are several occasions whereby Angpau is given, such as:
- Chinese New Year – usually given by the married to the unmarried or by the elders to the younger (age may vary). In most of the Chinese owned company, the employer (usually the boss) will give angpau to the employees as a sign of blessing.
- Birthday – given by people who want to give their blessings (usually between relatives and close family)
- Marriage – given by the guests to the newly wed including parents, relatives and friends. Most of the time, the amount collected from the angpau will be the funding for the expenditure of food and venue rental.
- Payments to some parties – we may use angpau to pay for soothsayers (Chinese style), Feng Shui consultants, lion dance performers and a donation for the temple.
Now, WeChat has the red packet feature (available in China) that enables users to send money in the form of red packet to a group of people or individual with a very simple step. I found it pretty fun and useful when talking about domestic money transaction.
Whereas our Malaysia’s local bank and even some platform (like Grab) had also launched e-red packets too but I doubt that to be viable. The red packet of WeChat is successful as it links with social media account but not a bank account. Thus, making it easier for people to interact and send their blessings around. Since the launch of the red packet feature, there are several new usages like:
- Promotions
- Company giving bonus
- Game rewards
Here’s some view of mine on each stage of my life where the perception of angpau changes.
When I was infant until around 12 years old.
I have no concept of how the red packets can do me good. Every packets received will just passed to my parents for safe keeping. That time what I knew was whatever I need, I will ask from parents rather than buying it myself. A pampered kid, I was. Haha
When I was at my teenage.
I started to have own desire and capable to buy my own stuff. So, I started to keep my own packets and count the dollars. I will plan how much to save in the piggy bank and how much to spend on my stuff. Nonetheless, I save most of my money which I appreciated my younger self for doing so. Without that, I guess my saving still in a very pitiful amount.
When I was at my 20s up to the point I graduated from university.
Most of my spending was from scholarship and some freelance jobs’ earning. However, not to forget my lovely parents who helped me along with the purchase of different needs. Since then, my angpau saving is basically zero as there’s just so much spending. So, what I can conclude is that the older we get, the more desire we have and making our spending increase tremendously. Like the purchase of phones, laptops, and other gadgets costed a lot and probably need some ‘subsidy’ from parents. So after my 20s, there’s basically no saving from angpau’s revenue.
Now, near to one year of working.
Luckily, I still able to hold my angpau money without spending it. Throughout the first year of working, I had very minimal saving and basically spend most of my earnings on different occasion. To decide on where I should invest my angpau in, is a big question.
Some of my received angpau this year. Selected some unique ones :) Loved the lego version the most which bears the most relevant blessing for me this year. And not forgetting the 压岁包 (money warding off old age in translation) that my parents gave, basically to protect the family from bad luck and sickness.
Forget to upload for @howtostartablog's angpau contest :(
For my future self.
I’m looking at perhaps within 5 years time to start giving angpau. That’s the very last few moments where I can keep the angpau money. Damn, time flies and I really aged after all. Looking back 20 years or so, I really can feel the morphology and this made me felt kinda excited yet a bit of reminiscence on how I came to be.
The angpau is not just about the money contained in it but the blessing that parents, relatives and friends. Each angpau’s amount may differ with the capability of the person who gives. As a courtesy, we are not supposed to open the angpau in front of the giver. However, there may be a situation where parents will need their kids to open and ‘tally’ the amount with what the kids get. Anyhow, that is just a part of the situation and it may not apply to others (if your angpau is so big and no need to compare haha). On the other hand, we should appreciate the angpau filled with blessings given to us.
In this angpau culture, it is about the culture of giving. I myself still adjusting to the concept of giving as it is not something everyone embraces easily. Usually, I will have a thinking that I already have so little, what else I can give? That’s a bad perception that will limit my contribution to many. For example, in Steemit, without the mind of how to contribute to the community, it is hard to establish and have an audience that supports. Thus, the culture of giving does not limit in angpau alone but it extends throughout our life. Well, of course we need to equip ourselves with better capability then only we can give more to our beloved ones and also the society. Thus, that is the reason I am a lifelong learner that believes in continuous improvement will eventually create an exponential personal growth.
此文都在讲述我从小到现在对红包钱的态度。以前小的时候（至12岁左右），红包钱都自动交给父母保管并有父母定存起来。到了少年时期（至20岁），比较多的物质要求，所以会用一些红包钱来购买物品，但还是多数存起来。过了20之后，基本上没得存那么多了，或基本没有存到。因为一下子就把那笔钱花光了。到了今年，总算我没有把红包钱华光，并想这笔钱当成投资款项。想起来，再过不久，我就得是派红包的成人了。哈哈，时间真的是过得好快。
以前的我，没把红包当回事。现在，开始珍惜大家给我的红包。第一是因为我体验了赚钱的辛苦，而第二我明白红包并不只是给钱那么简单，而是一个个对我的祝福。离乡背井去工作后，明白了亲情和家所带来的温暖和安全感，自然而然对这些祝福非常重视。这就好比如大家都对我说：加油，我们支持你。就这么简单的思维改变，让我对红包的文化改观。也可能是人生阅历的进化，所以让我体验到不一样的红包。除此，我也从中领会到给予的伟大。而给红包就是给予的一个很好的体现。
So, here’s a question I would like to ask the Steemit community.
How you guys spend your angpau money? 大家是怎么花红抱钱的呢？
Whether to put it in Fixed Deposit? Invest in unit trust? Invest in REIT? Invest in bonds or stocks? Or buy some Steem? The amount is not enough to buy any new gadgets (FYI) haha.
So any advice from you guys on how to spend the amount of money?Would be glad to hear some of the comments! Feel free to share.
都放在定存？基金？股市？还是买些虚拟货币？很想知道大家是如何善用这笔钱。
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