lunar new year ang pows

chinese new year/ lunar new year is round the corner. this is the time of the year where a lot of people ponder whether they qualify to give/ receive ang pows (red packets that contain money) and how much to pack in the ang pows. the following are some guidelines and principles that i see over the years...

"qualification" to give/ receive ang pows

• all married persons are qualified to give ang pows
• for those who have yet to celebrate their first wedding anniversary (are in the first year after their wedding), they also qualify to receive ang pows.
• people who are not married can receive ang pows. but generally speaking, for singles who are older (mid-30s and above), they generally try not to accept the ang pows out of courtesy.
• people who are considered elderly (usually of the previous generation) can receive ang pows as they are recognized as elders. there not strict rules regarding the age of the person per se. but as a guide, it is acceptable to give anyone in their 70s and above as a mark of respect.
• if you are a boss, regardless of whether you are married or not, my personal take is that it is a good practice to give ang pows to your staff. after all, it is a mark of respect for and in recognition of your staffs' contributions and support.

as for the amount to pack, if i may say, there are no standard rates. traditionally, it is not the money that counts, but the thoughts behind it. nonetheless, in today's context, the amount to pack has become a sensitive topic given the so called "face"-value behind it, especially amongst the younger ones (product of a more materialistic environment? haha!). it's an ego thing. also, it would not be so nice if the amount given is below what people give to us/ our children. the general principle is that the closer you are to the person, the bigger (the more money you pack in) the ang pow. and the amount is usually in even numbers with a preference to round off to the nearest 10's or ending with "8". the following are the possible rates that can be used (all figures are in singapore dollar):

family elders/ elderly relatives

• parents/ parents-in-law and elderly relatives - $68, $88, S100 or multiples of hundreds.

children of relatives

• very close relatives - $10, $12, $20
• close relatives - $8, $10
• normal relatives - $4, $8*
• distant relatives - $4*

children of friends/ non-relatives

• very close friends - $10, $12, $20
• close friends - $8, $10
• normal friends - $4 (i hesitate to up this to $8)*
• acquaintances - $4*

friends/ contemporaries

• very close friends - $20, $50 (not necessary to give but if really want to, it is ok)
• normal friends - no requirements

office/ colleagues @ workplace

• money is a sensitive issue at the workplace, so what i have done before is to pool monies from some of my team of senior staff and use this money to purchase lottery tickets and distribute them to my staff in ang pows (big sweep, 4d or toto tickets)
• to do this, you have the option of buying single tickets for each staff; or buy a series of number and share the winnings equally if you win. the pros and cons of the different methods are clear
• all monies packed/ used to buy lottery tickets need to be properly accounted for and audited by a neutral party

again, i reiterate here that there are no standard rates. there are of cos some people who are superbly calculative and work out the potential amount they will get by bringing their children around and balance with the potential amount they will need to give out, but this is really laborious. but well, whatever works for one may not work for others. ultimately, i think the best principle is to pack the ang pows according to your means.

tips on packing ang pows

• make sure the ang pows packed with different denominations are easily recognized. you won't want to give wrong amounts by mistake. you can consider packing different denominations in different types of ang pow packets. while it is ok to give more, it would be really embarrassing if you give a lot less. 
• always be prepared with more ang pows with different denominations when you do your visiting. you don't want to get caught with no ang pows when and if there are additional visitors to your visit locations.
• bring extra cash and empty ang pow jackets to cater to contingencies.
• for some people (especially cantonese), they like to give 2 ang pows together. after all even numbers are considered lucky. but this is not a must.

have a good time preparing for the lunar new year!

* and as mentioned by sam, there is an increasing preference to put $6 instead given that the number "4" sounds inauspicious when pronounced in chinese language/ dialect variants. this is also in view of the smaller sing-dollar and that many people are more willing to increase the amount (perhaps they are better off?) these days.