Monday, February 18, 2008 T15:58:17Z
[from Janis]BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Traditionally, young Chinese used to receive
red packets ("Hongbao" in Chinese) -- a small sum of cash in a red
envelope -- from their parents, relatives or friends during the Spring
Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year.
Chinese traditionally take the color of red as a sign of luck and
happiness, while the small sum serves as a symbol of wealth. Therefore,
the red packets are a talisman of luck, wealth, health and safety for
juniors from seniors.
Best wishes, however, may turn bad some times if kids are not taught how
to use the money correctly, particularly when the small red packets become
increasingly larger in a fast-developing country where some families have
become more affluent.
In the eastern Jinan City, five elementary school students spent 30,000
yuan (about 4,200 U.S. dollars) from their Spring Festival takings in a
department store in a single day, according to Jinan Daily, a leading
newspaper in the Shandong Province capital.
Similarly, in Shijiazhuang City, capital of the northern Hebei Province, a
third grader of elementary school asked her mother for a 20,000 yuan red
packet. The child wanted to show off in front of her classmates, according
to Yanzhao City News.
The mother, surnamed Wang, called the newspaper. "She asked for 20,000
yuan from me. I refused. I heard her showing off to her classmates on Feb.
12 that she had already received more than 20,000 yuan in red packet money
(from relatives)."
Some Chinese media discussed the negative impact of the increasingly
bigger red packets, arguing parents should educate their children on how
to handle the gifts.
A survey in Chengdu City in the southwest Sichuan Province found that half
of local parents gave 200 to 400 yuan per red packet to their kids.
For richer families, the packets were larger. "I usually give about 2,000
yuan to my kid as a New Year's gift," said a real estate company boss.
Therefore, the bulging packets for kids has undoubtedly caused a rising
question: How to guide kids to use the money?
In Qingdao City, Shandong, four nine-year-olds lost 5,000 yuan via
gambling over three days, the Qingdao Daily reported.
Although the money has been requested to be returned with the help from a
lawyer, the event aroused wide attention in the eastern coastal city, the
paper said.
"Money is now one of the major inducements for junior crimes," said Guan
Ying, a Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences researcher.
Investigation shows 70 percent of junior crimes are related to money, the
scholar said. The study, which investigated 2,000 junior criminals and
1,000 non-criminal adolescents, found the allowance of the former is much
more than the latter. It is easier for kids who have more money to break
the law (compared with those who do not), for they have more chances to go
to underground casinos and discos.
Liu Danning, an expert from the provincial branch of the China Everbright
Bank in the northeastern Heilongjiang Province, said there were three
steps to guide kids to wisely use their red packet money.
First of all, help to open a demand deposit bank account for kids; give
the savings passbook to them and tell them to withdraw money if needed.
Secondly, guide kids to make a plan for using money; tell them the basic
principles. Thirdly, teach kids to keep a record of how they spent the
money; let them be aware of their financial situation.
"Children do not know how to correctly use their red packet money. This
reflects current education shortages in China, especially in the field of
financial management for children," said academic Guan.
He said there are four major shortages as follows:
First, many parents do not tell kids about the real and detailed financial
situation of a family. Children are not aware of the hardship their
parents have gone through to earn money; hence, kids are not aware of
being frugal.
Second, kids are affected by the increasingly materialized world. They may
even fall victim to money worship. For example, kids may follow their star
idols who are described as a spendthrift by media or in movies.
Third, the lack of consumer guide for children may result in high-end
consumption or shopping sprees only for showing off among their peers.
Fourth, kids' desire to obtain money may expand if it is not effectively
controlled. In this case, kids may turn to illegal actions to obtain money
if their parents fail to meet their increasing demands.
"Financial management is an inevitable part of education for young
children. It should call attention from the whole society," Guan said.
Like Guan, many Chinese experts want the public to pay greater attention
to the doling out of red packets before this traditional symbol of best
wishes turns into a serious social problem.
(Description of Source: Beijing Xinhua in English -- China's official news
service for English-language audiences (New China News Agency))
Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights reserved.
City/Source: Beijing
DIALOG Update Date: 20080218; 13:33:44 EST
Descriptors: Domestic Economic
Geographic Codes: CHN
Geographic Names: China; Asia; East Asia
NewsEdge Document Number: 200802181477.1_c86700b323e71d70
Original Source Language: English
Region: Asia
5 comments:
This is interesting because it shows how the culture and the meaning behind the chinese new year is not deemed as most important, but the Hong Bao seems to be of most importance to not only kids, but adults as well. I think its also interesting that there is so much emphasis on the material wealth of the chinese new year in a communist country.
I find this interesting because it shows a collision of long traditional customs and the modern materialistic world of today. Unfortunately, at the moment China has been given the crash course in fiscal responsibility; given its explosion into the global economy. The parents themselves likely were given a decent sum when they were young, but back then China's youth was not so impressionable by the West. Well times have changed and its hard for the parents to advise the kids on how to live in such a lightspeed world that is so new that they are learning in it too.
I find it interesting that there seems to be a similarity to the situation here in the US. Many of my younger cousins, who are of a similar age to those mentioned in the article, are probably in the same boat. Its has always been tradition to receive a lot of money for Chinese New Year because it is suppose to be a signal your prosperity of the upcoming year. There is an informal belief that does go along with the red envelops which I find makes this article so interesting---what you do with the lucky money in the red envelopes reflects what will happen to your money in this upcoming year and where your financial luck will be happen. With that in mind, I find it interesting that this problem is so widespread. But maybe because it is an informal belief to which not everyone subscribes.
another way of looking at this article is to equate the long standing association of money and evil. it's not quite in the same notion of money and "unnaturalness" with aristotle and other examples. but it talks about how having more money is leading to all these social (moral) problems that need to be addressed.
I can't believe these people are blaming the red envelopes for poor parenting. Maybe they shouldn't be handing kids 4200 dollars in the first place.
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