The chinese new year hols are coming to an end and i want to talk about the unspoken rule during CNY 08.

So i was at my big/first uncle's place(direct translation from chinese) on the first day of new year. All my relatives will gather there instead of visiting one house at a time. Thank God my relatives are quite smart. I would have died if i had to visit like 10 houses that day. The weather was so bloody hot, i was feeling fainty the entire time. Not to mention there was no AIRCON! Seriously. Invest in an aircon if you are planning to get the entire family of 10 siblings into your HDB.

But thats not the point. After collecting all the ang paos, i quickly escaped with my sister from those meaningless small talks and awkward silence after every 2 lines.
Relative: So finish your army?
Me: Yup. Just 2 months ago.
*5 seconds of silence*
Relative: Studying university?
Me: Yup. I will be heading to NYU in August.
Relative: Nan Yang University?
Me: No... New York University.
Relative: Wow...
*5 seconds of silence*
Relative: The chicken rice is really good ah.
Me: Yup.
*silence as we gobble down the food and quickly run back to the TV couch*

Again i have digress. I apologise. So i was home relaxing in my 16 degress airconditioned room. Decided to count my ang pao money. So i slowly open the ang paos. Alright fine. You got me. I ripped them open. And to my horror, i found a 2 dollar note in one ang pao. A. ONE. YI. SATU. One lonely pathetic 2 dollar note.

Seriously! I thought it was clear! In 2008, with all the inflation going on and price hike etc, i was quite sure there was this unspoken rule that in CNY 2008, the minimum ang pao sum is $4! I read about it on mypaper(that free paper that has english and chinese on it. I read it every morning. The english section that is. hehe) that everyone agreed $4 is the minimum.

$2! What can you buy with that miserable $2! You can't even get a plate of chicken rice or a bowl of wanton mee. And i wont be surprise if the $2 shop has disappeared from existance. $2! That barely covers my transportation cost to the house if i took public transport! (Public transport for CNY visitation... omg... kudos to those who did that...)

Then of course i read the section on the mypaper which someone commented:"I don't mind $2. It's the thought that counts anyway." THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS?! Firstly, it's TRADITION to give ang pao, who cares about the thought. Secondly, if you consider the thought, you will be fuming mad. The thought that is probably racing through that miser's head is "ok so if i give $2, and my siblings give at least $4, then i earn at least $2 per kid! Whoot! I love Chinese New Year! Big money Big money!"

Then i sense some people will throw rotten eggs at me saying "But they might be in a financial crisis!" I tried to put myself in their shoes... Nope i still think giving $2 is out of the question. How many relatives can you possibly have? Is setting aside $100 for CNY too ridiculous? That will give you 25 kids to give out to! And it only happens once a year! It just shows poor planning of finance.

Ok i have said enough. If only i can remember who gave me that 2 dollar note... Anyway i will be using that 2 dollar note to buy something to ease my pain. Maybe rubber bands or something...
Signing out - 2/10/2008 11:00:00 AM

The chinese new year hols are coming to an end and i want to talk about the unspoken rule during CNY 08.

So i was at my big/first uncle's place(direct translation from chinese) on the first day of new year. All my relatives will gather there instead of visiting one house at a time. Thank God my relatives are quite smart. I would have died if i had to visit like 10 houses that day. The weather was so bloody hot, i was feeling fainty the entire time. Not to mention there was no AIRCON! Seriously. Invest in an aircon if you are planning to get the entire family of 10 siblings into your HDB.

But thats not the point. After collecting all the ang paos, i quickly escaped with my sister from those meaningless small talks and awkward silence after every 2 lines.
Relative: So finish your army?
Me: Yup. Just 2 months ago.
*5 seconds of silence*
Relative: Studying university?
Me: Yup. I will be heading to NYU in August.
Relative: Nan Yang University?
Me: No... New York University.
Relative: Wow...
*5 seconds of silence*
Relative: The chicken rice is really good ah.
Me: Yup.
*silence as we gobble down the food and quickly run back to the TV couch*

Again i have digress. I apologise. So i was home relaxing in my 16 degress airconditioned room. Decided to count my ang pao money. So i slowly open the ang paos. Alright fine. You got me. I ripped them open. And to my horror, i found a 2 dollar note in one ang pao. A. ONE. YI. SATU. One lonely pathetic 2 dollar note.

Seriously! I thought it was clear! In 2008, with all the inflation going on and price hike etc, i was quite sure there was this unspoken rule that in CNY 2008, the minimum ang pao sum is $4! I read about it on mypaper(that free paper that has english and chinese on it. I read it every morning. The english section that is. hehe) that everyone agreed $4 is the minimum.

$2! What can you buy with that miserable $2! You can't even get a plate of chicken rice or a bowl of wanton mee. And i wont be surprise if the $2 shop has disappeared from existance. $2! That barely covers my transportation cost to the house if i took public transport! (Public transport for CNY visitation... omg... kudos to those who did that...)

Then of course i read the section on the mypaper which someone commented:"I don't mind $2. It's the thought that counts anyway." THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS?! Firstly, it's TRADITION to give ang pao, who cares about the thought. Secondly, if you consider the thought, you will be fuming mad. The thought that is probably racing through that miser's head is "ok so if i give $2, and my siblings give at least $4, then i earn at least $2 per kid! Whoot! I love Chinese New Year! Big money Big money!"

Then i sense some people will throw rotten eggs at me saying "But they might be in a financial crisis!" I tried to put myself in their shoes... Nope i still think giving $2 is out of the question. How many relatives can you possibly have? Is setting aside $100 for CNY too ridiculous? That will give you 25 kids to give out to! And it only happens once a year! It just shows poor planning of finance.

Ok i have said enough. If only i can remember who gave me that 2 dollar note... Anyway i will be using that 2 dollar note to buy something to ease my pain. Maybe rubber bands or something...