For those who still receive them, angbaos are undoubtedly one of the most anticipated things about Chinese New Year (CNY).
While scoring a bigger amount than usual can be a nice surprise, most would agree that it’s more about the gesture than the number.
Nonetheless, one Singaporean woman seemed to think otherwise as she was allegedly unhappy to receive a S$10 angbao from her boyfriend’s parents.
According to her Malaysian boyfriend, she claimed that was the smallest amount she has ever received in a red packet.
In a now-deleted post on the subreddit r/askSingapore, a man asked for advice on what to do after he and his partner got into a dispute over angbao.
It all began when he brought her back to his hometown in Johor Bahru (JB) to spend CNY with his family.
There, his Singaporean girlfriend received a S$10 angbao from the OP’s mum.
Every other family member, including the OP himself, got the same amount.
However, the OP alleged that his girlfriend felt “slighted” by the amount.
For her, it was the lowest amount she had received in an angbao, especially when she compared it to what she got from her Singaporean relatives.
On top of that, she purportedly expected all the notes to be new instead of used.
The OP went on to share his opinion on angbaos, saying that they are just a gesture and that the amount does not really matter.
He added that he had tried to defend his parents, who are retired and therefore presumably gave an amount that they deemed “good enough”.
Despite that, his girlfriend reportedly only felt he was brushing her feelings aside.
She also asked him how much he would give in an angbao to his parents, to which he said S$30 (RM100).
Upon hearing his answer, she allegedly tried to use it to make him see things from her point of view.
But the OP disagreed, saying that this was the amount he would give because it was what he felt “comfortable” with.
He then posed a question to Reddit users, asking them how he can help his girlfriend see his point.
The post attracted a flurry of comments almost right away, with most of them calling out the girlfriend’s actions.
One user reasoned that the standard rate of an angbao should only be determined by how much the giver can afford and wants to give.
Another Redditor pointed out that the greater impropriety is the girlfriend’s willingness to “sour the relationship” and stir trouble between the OP and his parents over an angbao.
Meanwhile, this commenter contemplated whether the OP’s girlfriend’s view on angbaos comes from her own family’s culture.
Others simply cut to the chase, like this Redditor who warned the OP to not “upgrade” his girlfriend to become his wife.
Then there was the user who did not mince their words, calling the girlfriend “insufferable”.
The OP has since removed the post, but we hope that he and his girlfriend have managed to come to an agreement over this red-hot issue.
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Featured image by TheSmartLocal.
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