Therefore, when I go home to celebrate Tet, sometimes I am afraid to go to other people’s houses to play, especially families with many children and grandchildren. My children and grandchildren don’t really go anywhere, but sometimes outsiders are also there, they are eager to receive lucky money, maybe I just ignored it.
My husband and I work as hired laborers in Hanoi, the salary is limited, Tet has too many expenses to spend. Every home, there are three or four small children, each of a few tens of thousands of children will immediately fly millions of dollars”, Ms. H. honestly shared.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Th. (34 years old, in Ha Dong district, Hanoi) also encountered an unhappy situation just for celebrating the age of 20,000 VND.
Ms. Th. In 2021, she and her husband bought an apartment in Ha Dong district. The money to buy a house includes the couple’s savings, borrowed money from brothers and friends.
Because she still has to pay the rent, Ms. Th. always try to tighten spending, even during Tet. However, according to her, when Tet comes, the money to celebrate the New Year is something that cannot be saved and cannot be spent.
Ms. Th. recalls: “Tet in 2022, in addition to celebrating the age of the children and grandchildren on both sides of the family, I also celebrate the neighbors’ children living in the apartment. The whole floor of my apartment building has 14 households, all young families. Each The family has 1-3 children, a total of 25. After discussing with my husband, I decided to celebrate 20,000 VND each, because if I celebrate 50,000 VND, the total amount is more than 1 million VND.
This is also a large amount of money in the context that each month we have to pay nearly 10 million VND for a bank loan while our income is only 25 million VND. Moreover, I think it’s important to celebrate the age of happiness, to show affection, not to be too heavy on things.”
However, perhaps some of Ms. Th’s neighbors. don’t think so. A few days following Tet, walking along the corridor, she overheard a story between two women on the same floor. In the story, it is easy to see that they are talking regarding Ms. Th. Happy birthday too young, with the comment “now still celebrate the age of 20,000 VND”.
“Perhaps the neighbors thought that my family only had one child, so my husband and I calculated only 20,000 dong. After that time, I didn’t want to come over or have a close relationship with those neighbors anymore.
I think, if we only see each other through a little New Year’s money, it is too pragmatic. While they do not think that, during the year, every time I go back to my hometown, I bring them some fruit or vegetables from my hometown. Sometimes they have unexpected work, I am also willing to take care of their children…”, Ms. Th. said.
Over time, the custom of lucky money is losing its meaning when both the giver and the receiver have erroneous thoughts in the form of money that takes a lot of money to have “new affection”. Many people think that it is necessary to return to the custom of giving lucky money the inherent beauty.
Especially, when Tet comes, to avoid encountering awkward situations, parents need to teach their children how to receive lucky money in a cultured manner: Do not tear red envelopes in front of guests, know how to send and thank you when receiving money. lucky money, do not comment on the denomination of the money and clearly explain to your child the good meaning of the custom of giving lucky money at the beginning of the year.
