Lai See part 1 of 2

By far, kids’ favorite aspect of New Years are the lai see envelopes. Families will spend the better part of the week either visiting family and friends or hosting family and friends. When younger people visit older people, it is a long-standing Chinese tradition for the older folks to present young people with a red lai see envelope with cash in it. Lai see envelopes are always red for good luck, but in the last few decades, the designs have become quite elaborate. They can include fish, animals, castles, people, and cherry blossoms.

Banks either sell or make available lai see envelopes to their customers. The banks discreetly print their logo and name on the envelopes. Disney, on the other hand is not so discreet. Disney offers a whole series of lai see envelopes. This being the year of the tiger, the ones featuring Tigger are the most popular. It nice to see the old boy in the limelight after playing second fiddle to Pooh all these years.

The amount of cash given in a lai see envelope depends on the closeness of the relationship. Friends of the family might slip kids a lai see envelope with US$2.00 or US$5.00 or US$10.00. My students told me that Grandpa and Grandma can be counted on for US$75 or US$100 or more. A kid who spends the week making the rounds can bank in excess of several hundred dollars.

Only married people are expected to hand out lai see money to single people. Once you get married, you stop getting and have to start giving lai see envelopes. In fact, newlyweds are expected to be particularly generous as this will bring good luck to their marriage.

-Jack

Q: Why did Tigger have his head in the toilet?
A: He was looking for Pooh.