The University Of Toronto Says No Malicious Intent Behind Angbao Hell Money Incident
During Chinese New Year (CNY), the giving and receiving of angbaos is an eagerly anticipated tradition.
For Chinese students overseas, getting angbao would also be a warm reminder of home.
But imagine the horror when one is given an angbao only to find hell money inside.
That’s what happened to students at a dormitory at the University of Toronto (U of T).
Angbaos containing hell money given out by residence
The incident took place on 1 Feb – the 1st day of CNY, shared a Reddit post.
The OP said the angbaos in question were placed in the common area of Graduate House – the only residence at U of T that’s exclusively for graduate students.
They were meant for students and residents to take, it was claimed.
Extremely inauspicious find
However, the angbaos shockingly contained hell money, which was quite obvious because the words “HELL BANK NOTE” were printed on them.
It goes without saying that this is extremely inauspicious, especially during CNY.
A netizen explained this to the uninitiated by saying that we’re supposed to avoid bad luck during CNY, and receiving hell money would be the exact opposite of that.
The OP said that this was unacceptable because it’s clear that none of the Asian staff or students were consulted before the hell money was placed inside the angbaos.
Another netizen also pointed out that even if whoever was behind it wasn’t familiar with Asian currency, they couldn’t have missed the words “HELL BANK NOTE” on them.
That shows that none of the staff who did this cared to even look at what they were putting in the angbao, the OP said.
Dorm apologises, says they weren’t aware
Responding to the incident, Graduate House apologised in an email sent to residents.
The email seen by The Strand, a university paper, said that the team was “not aware of the inappropriate nature of the currency inside the envelopes until it was too late”.
They also maintained that there was no malicious intent behind the incident.
They pledged to be more vigilant in future, and work together with the community to improve on their cultural awareness.
Angbaos with hell money withdrawn
An apology in Chinese was also posted on Weixin by U of T, reported The Strand.
It said the offending angbaos were withdrawn after the university got wind of the incident and contacted the relevant stakeholders.
U of T “deeply regrets” this mistake that occurred during CNY, which is supposed to be happy and auspicious.
Going forward, they’ll continue to strengthen their education efforts. This will be to increase multicultural understanding, and deepen the inclusivity and sense of belonging on campus.
Joss paper used in UK article
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that inauspicious objects were used by the unknowing.
In Jan, British publication The Guardian was slammed for featuring funeral envelopes and joss papers in an article about CNY recipes.
Joss Papers Used As Flat Lay Prop In The Guardian CNY Article, Image Now Replaced
BBC Food, too, made the same mistake when it served up a photo of Lo Mien with a side of white funeral envelopes.
Work on cultural awareness
The unfortunate incident must have been distressing for Chinese students missing home during CNY.
While U of T has apologised, we’ll hope they’ll also follow up on their promise to work on their cultural awareness.
Only by doing so can we be more sensitive to others.
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Featured image adapted from Reddit.
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