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| Duit Raya packet |
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| angpow packet |
As Malaysians, we are so used to receiving '
angpow' (red packets with money) or '
duit raya' during festivals such as Chinese New Year, Hari Raya and Deepavali. Even now, as a working adult, I still receive
angpows from my parents and elder siblings and sometimes from relatives ! That's the advantage of being single....receive but not required to give. (HAHA !) That's the chinese culture..the belief is that the more you give away your fortune, the more you will receive in the new year. As for the Malays, some of my students told me that they stopped receiving
duit raya as soon as they entered university or started working. Duit Raya is only meant for the little ones :D. The same goes for Deepavali celebration. Well, the main purpose of giving out
angpow or
duit raya is actually to make the 'little ones' happy. My family's custom is just exceptional, I must admit.
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| otoshidama packet |
Now, how about the Japanese custom, you might want to know. The Japanese give out
otoshidama to their own children and little children of relatives and friends. Do find out more from this wonderful
website I found. I am not sure what is the age limit in receiving
otoshidama but I received my first
otoshidama from my foster family when I was studying in Japan at the age of 25... :) It was from my
obaasan (grandmother).
Otoosan and
okaasan (dad and mum) did not give me one..I guess it must be that
obaasan 'represented' the family to bestow the good fortune on me :D I won't tell you how much I received cos it would make you green with envy !! Besides the
otoshidama, I received lots of foodstuff and my train fare fully paid by
otoosan and
okaasan ! They were such generous and nice people ! And they surely did make my 5 years stay in Japan a memorable one. Not only that, they showed me ( a foreign student ) what unconditional love is... accepting me into their family and taking care of me all those years. I watched their children grow up, enter university and got married.
Otoosan finally gave up smoking (or else he wouldn't be allowed to go near his grandson !) and
obaasan passed on... I promised to myself that I will pass on the kindness they showed me to others. Also, to share my culture and what little I know of others' that had made my life so rich and colorful. :) Teaching is not only about finishing the syllabus and fabulous exam results, the biggest part is to educate young ones how to understand other's cultures while appreciating their own even more in the process.
Cheers ! Happy 2011 ! May the new year bring more joy, success and everything nice to each and everyone of you who read this ! :) So, do you think you will get an
otoshidama this year ?
wahhhhh T_T i'm touched
ReplyDelete"Teaching is not only about finishing the syllabus and fabulous exam results, the biggest part is to educate young ones how to understand other's cultures while appreciating their own even more in the process."
ReplyDelete先生、その件では先生とまったく同意見です！:D
Thanks.Glad it touched you. :D ファウザンくんはきっといつかもっともいい先生になりますよ。
ReplyDeleteChin-san, got AngPow issue here too... any formula how to stop ppl (family members) fm giving it Ojisan like me !?
ReplyDeletehaha, Tom san. It is easy to refuse from people not so much older than you but for elderly relatives, it's impolite to refuse. But elderly relatives will usually give only a minimal sum for the sake of tradition. So, i guess it is no harm receiving from them.
ReplyDelete