CNY Question: Do you care if the money you receive in your angpow is brand new?

SINGAPORE: With Chinese New Year just around the corner, an online user took to a forum to ask Singaporeans if they care whether the money they receive in their customary red envelopes (angpow) is brand new. Many shared their different opinions on the matter.

“Do you care if the money you receive in your angpow is brand new?” the writer asked. “Genuinely asking after seeing the long queues outside bank outlets for new notes.”

According to a Feng Shui store, clean, brand-new notes should be placed inside red envelopes. Sometimes, envelopes can even be red, gold, or orange. People should also avoid odd numbers; Chinese culture generally sees them as bad luck. Another thing to avoid is money with the number four in the total (e.g., it’s better to give S$38 than S$40).

However, in the comments section, people shared their opinions on whether the book should follow this part of the custom.

One shared his reason for preferring new notes when giving out angpow. “I prefer brand new,” he wrote. “I’m more traditional, so it’s nice and meaningful to take brand-new notes to give out in my angpow. It doesn’t matter if my receiver likes it or not. I doubt anyone in the queue does it because the person they’re giving angpow likes new notes. Probably doing it ’cause it’s nice and meaningful to carry new notes in the new year.”

However, everyone else shared the same ‘money is money’ mentality regarding receiving unique gifts at this time of year. “I’m too poor to worry about it, so no,” said one, “anyway, if anyone’s giving out angpow, just shoot one my way.”

One or two also mentioned a past report by CNA about the oversupply of notes and how many are discarded. “I don’t,” said another, “Money is money. If you don’t like old notes, you could always pass your angpow to me. On CNA, there was a report that they shred tons of new notes after CNY because they produce too many of them during CNY. It’s an extreme waste of manpower and resources for this dumb practice.”

“It’s silly,” another wrote. “You queue for hours sometimes, give the new notes to people, who then take it and either spend or bank into their accounts. And it creates a lot of waste as they have to burn many notes. Good that the banks have started down the path of giving our repurposed notes instead.”

Read related: New report shows Singaporeans still value CNY traditions and family reunions, with 19% planning to spend up to S$499 on food