Happy "Niu" and "Ox-picious" Year

"Whatcha got planned [for CNY], Mr C?" my ex-student asked me while chatting on MSN.

"I plan to say good bye to lots of hard earned $$$," I replied. When pressed for details I shared my discovery. "Hong baos don't come cheap here in Singapore."

To which the smart aleck pointed out, "Actually they do COME cheap. The problem is they don't GO cheap."

Touché!

"Singapore hong baos rates are higher than Malaysia," I continued. Bracing myself for the invasion of my polytechnic students, I had suggested to my wife that a token $2 will do. My wife replied with horror.

"Aiyo, so cheap! At least $4-lah!"

Our PRC Chinese foot masseur was rattling on and on last night. But I did find some of her insights interesting. Apparently, in China it is a minimum of $100 or not at all. She explained that they do not distribute hong baos in China like they do here but give them only to close relatives. Unlike here, it is quite OK not to give. In fact, it is better not to give than to give and appear cheap. Here is an appealing concept!

So it seems the practice here is literally one of "tokenism", or as they say in Mandarin "zuo ge yi si". Perhaps, I speculated, we have culturally altered the practice, a phenomenon which tends to happen when one is separate from the main body. Maybe people back then were poorer, having migrated here with nothing but the shirt on their back. They were probably more superstitious, as people are wont to be when they are desperate, and will clutch at any straws that might bring some relief to their hardship. Superstition is a powerful panacea.

If I remember correctly, as I was growing up I was told that giving hong baos brings luck. Being the pragmatic people that we are, I suppose this adaptation is a form of hedging our bets and marrying the best of both worlds: give in small amounts, and hope for large returns.

Something like buying 4D.

So...$10 hong baos?

Sigh!