Singapore — A woman lamented on social media that her husband, who used to give her lucky red envelopes for Chinese New Year when they were single, no longer does so.
As they are newlyweds and this is their first year to give out ang pao, the woman discovered that her husband was excited to hand them out to his family, but had none for her.
And when she asked him why, he told her, “why should I give you?”
To add insult to injury, he then asked, “Why didn’t you give me one instead?”
In a post on the NUS Whispers Facebook page, she wrote, “Thats when I realized being married to him has no value, never knew I have to beg for a token of blessing. Be it $100, or $10 i think that’s the thought that count.”
However, she asked commenters to weigh in on her question: Do husband give ang pao to wife?
It’s customary to give red envelopes to parents, in-laws, and grandparents as a sign of respect, as well as to younger relatives (siblings, children, grandchildren, etc).
As for spouses, it is not traditional for husbands to give ang pao to their wives, as some netizens pointed out.
“Goodwill gestures,” such as giving out the red envelopes, “are voluntary and not a must,” wrote another.
However, some spouses do give each other ang pao.
Some netizens wrote in defence of the woman who wrote the post, pointing out that it was the “change of attitude” that bothered her the most.
/TISG