Chinese New Year - time for Red Ang Pow

This year, Chinese New Year will fall on 26th January 2009.

To my kids and most children, Chinese New Year is a time for their Ang Pows.

What are Ang Pows? "Ang" means Red and "Pow" means "Packet". It is not just the receiving of a red packet that excites a child, but more of the contents of the envelope and that means money! It gives the children a temporary satisfaction of being able to receive and keep and spend whatever money that they receive during the Chinese New Year season.

To the traditionalists, the red packet is a form of "Good Fortune" or what they call "Lai Si" in Cantonese. So the exchanging of Red Packets during this Chinese New Year season is to bless each others family with Good Fortune. Even the amount of money that is enclosed inside the packet is usually a figure that sounds like luck, or blessing such as 8 or 3 and never 4, because a 4 represents death.

So the exchanging of Ang Pow is really a socially acceptable practice among the Chinese society. (Note: it is not just reserved for New Years but also weddings, birthdays or other auspicious occasions).

For a Christian, if the giving of the Ang Pow is given with the intention of gracing a social occasion, then it does not contradict the Bible. In fact, the presentation of gifts are rampant all over Scriptures. So gift givings, including giving of Ang Pows is biblical.

However, if there is an underlying belief or connotation of luck or fortune or even bribery, then it is not a good practice because only God alone controls our fate and fortune. Our destiny is not linked to a man-made practice, but to the hand of our Creator.