Once again Chinese New Year is here. Today is the fifth day of the New Year but in actual fact this blog was supposed to have been posted a few days before the first day. As usual I got a little behind with my New Year preparations and found myself running around like a mad woman trying to clean the house, buy new clothes for the kids and I as well as the drinks and titbits. This year we got lucky as my son won five cases of beer from Heineken so I did not have to go on my yearly search for places selling beer at the lowest price. Chinese New Year just isn’t New Year without beer. On the first three days of Chinese New Year I am allowed to sit and sip beer all day long without the disapproving looks of my eldest son. I love beer unfortunately it has two nasty side effects, bloated belly and nasty beer farts. But enough about me and my love of beer time to get back to the topic at hand.
While Chinese New Year is not a traditional celebration for me it became a tradition when I married my husband and moved to Malaysia. Early Chinese New Year celebrations sucked big time but once I moved into my own home I began to enjoy it and look forward to it and so I find myself cleaning house every year, buying new clothes and preparing ang pao for family and visitors. In the old days Chinese woman would spend a few months baking traditional cookies and cakes for guest when came visiting, now with many woman working the traditional New Year goodies are store bought making everyone’s life easier.
Out with the old and in with the new is the philosophy behind Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is celebrated around the world by the Chinese for fifteen days. In the old days small businesses and shops would shut their doors for the full fifteen days. Since the Chinese never took a break from work this was the time of year where they could relax, unwind, stuff themselves with food, visit friends and give and receive ang pao. Before ushering in the New Year the house must be cleaned from top to bottom, debts should be settled and new clothes are bought. Chinese families will travel enmass to the family home where they will partake of the traditional New Year’s Eve dinner which is a must. On the first day, if they have not spent the night, family members will pay their respects to the patriarch home where they will receive and give ang pao.
Chinese children, every year, look forward to Chinese New Year. Is it because of the reunion dinner with all the traditional savoury dishes served, the customary biscuits to be found in every Chinese house hold or the mandarin oranges given away for luck? Is it because of the new clothes that will be bought to wear during the New Year, no they look forward to receiving that little red packet known as “ang bao” or “ang pao”. This little red packet given every year contains money and is given away for luck. The more you give the more luck you gain and children visiting households of friends and family are sure to receive one.
According to tradition the packet should contain an even amount of money such as two dollars, four dollars, six dollars, ten dollars and so on. In a Chinese family “ang pao” is given to unmarried younger people by married people. If you are not married you are not required to give out “ang pao”, although those who can afford often do and younger people do not give to older people unless it is their parents. A working child giving “ang pao” to parents is a form of respect. In family’s who are wealthy the father is likely to give out “ang pao” to all his children, their spouses and grandchildren.
As in any tradition in modern society the quaint tradition of “ang pao” has become commercialized and exploited, with children expecting large sums in their packets. In my husband’s day his “ang pao” consisted of twenty cents. As he reached his teens the amount increased to one dollar and twenty cents. Try giving that amount to kids today. Children every year go from house to house collecting “ang pao” keeping count of how much they have collected. My children’s friends boast to them that they have collected “ang pao” in the total amount of two to three thousand dollars, because large amounts are given to them by wealthy relations. My children think they are suffering because the total amount of they receive is only two to three hundred every year.
When receiving ‘ang pao” it is bad manners to check the amount in front of the giver, but as soon as it is possible to check, children will check and inform their parents as to how much was given as their parents don’t want to appear to be cheapskates if their “ang pao” is less then what others give out. Most households give out ten dollars to their children’s friends and children of relatives. During the stock market boom it was not unusual for children to open their packet and find fifty dollars. The tradition of giving out “ang pao” has become quite an expensive affair, especially for those who have many children with many friends and those who come from large families. With the trend continuing in this direction maybe in the future you will be required to take out a small loan just to distribute “ang pao”. Fact is, it is not really the amount that matters, what matters more is the red packet it’s given in, as the giving of the red packet signifies good luck.
While Chinese New Year is not a traditional celebration for me it became a tradition when I married my husband and moved to Malaysia. Early Chinese New Year celebrations sucked big time but once I moved into my own home I began to enjoy it and look forward to it and so I find myself cleaning house every year, buying new clothes and preparing ang pao for family and visitors. In the old days Chinese woman would spend a few months baking traditional cookies and cakes for guest when came visiting, now with many woman working the traditional New Year goodies are store bought making everyone’s life easier.
Out with the old and in with the new is the philosophy behind Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is celebrated around the world by the Chinese for fifteen days. In the old days small businesses and shops would shut their doors for the full fifteen days. Since the Chinese never took a break from work this was the time of year where they could relax, unwind, stuff themselves with food, visit friends and give and receive ang pao. Before ushering in the New Year the house must be cleaned from top to bottom, debts should be settled and new clothes are bought. Chinese families will travel enmass to the family home where they will partake of the traditional New Year’s Eve dinner which is a must. On the first day, if they have not spent the night, family members will pay their respects to the patriarch home where they will receive and give ang pao.
Chinese children, every year, look forward to Chinese New Year. Is it because of the reunion dinner with all the traditional savoury dishes served, the customary biscuits to be found in every Chinese house hold or the mandarin oranges given away for luck? Is it because of the new clothes that will be bought to wear during the New Year, no they look forward to receiving that little red packet known as “ang bao” or “ang pao”. This little red packet given every year contains money and is given away for luck. The more you give the more luck you gain and children visiting households of friends and family are sure to receive one.
According to tradition the packet should contain an even amount of money such as two dollars, four dollars, six dollars, ten dollars and so on. In a Chinese family “ang pao” is given to unmarried younger people by married people. If you are not married you are not required to give out “ang pao”, although those who can afford often do and younger people do not give to older people unless it is their parents. A working child giving “ang pao” to parents is a form of respect. In family’s who are wealthy the father is likely to give out “ang pao” to all his children, their spouses and grandchildren.
As in any tradition in modern society the quaint tradition of “ang pao” has become commercialized and exploited, with children expecting large sums in their packets. In my husband’s day his “ang pao” consisted of twenty cents. As he reached his teens the amount increased to one dollar and twenty cents. Try giving that amount to kids today. Children every year go from house to house collecting “ang pao” keeping count of how much they have collected. My children’s friends boast to them that they have collected “ang pao” in the total amount of two to three thousand dollars, because large amounts are given to them by wealthy relations. My children think they are suffering because the total amount of they receive is only two to three hundred every year.
When receiving ‘ang pao” it is bad manners to check the amount in front of the giver, but as soon as it is possible to check, children will check and inform their parents as to how much was given as their parents don’t want to appear to be cheapskates if their “ang pao” is less then what others give out. Most households give out ten dollars to their children’s friends and children of relatives. During the stock market boom it was not unusual for children to open their packet and find fifty dollars. The tradition of giving out “ang pao” has become quite an expensive affair, especially for those who have many children with many friends and those who come from large families. With the trend continuing in this direction maybe in the future you will be required to take out a small loan just to distribute “ang pao”. Fact is, it is not really the amount that matters, what matters more is the red packet it’s given in, as the giving of the red packet signifies good luck.
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