“Now, I feel that what is inside an ‘angpau’ is a blessing, and a form of well-wishing (from the elders). To be able to receive an ‘angpau’ with both hands is a blessing itself, its not so much about the money anymore.
There was once a customer requested for a super big ‘angpau’ (red packet) because he wanted to give his mother RM4,000 cash. I told him ‘write cheque lah!’, but he insisted because it was the Chinese New Year and giving cash carries significance, so we printed a bigger ‘angpau’ for him.
Yeah, there’s e-angpau these days, but even if there’s just one customer order, I will continue to make ‘angpau’, and tell people that I am still printing customised red packets.” – Lee Kuan Chen.
The above interview was conducted in Mandarin.
Story by Samantha Siow
Photo by Kelvin Mah
Translation by Christine Cheah
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(This post was first published on February 20th 2018)
