Singapore – It is considered proper etiquette to take only what you need when something is offered to you for free. Just in time for the Chinese New Year, one auntie appeared to be in great need and therefore took almost all the ang pows being offered for free by a temple in Teck Whye Lane.
According to Stomp, from which this incident was first released, a temple volunteer was shocked to see all the 500 red packets he prepared on Monday night suddenly disappear the following day.
The ang pows, which contained two 10-cent coins and a lucky 4D number in each one, were left on a wooden tray in a temple that was not disclosed by the volunteer. It was the temple’s way to share blessings to the public and to those who visited to worship the gods. He shared that this was a tradition for them and they would do it every Chinese New Year.
An investigation of the temple’s CCTV footage showed that there was a woman, wearing what seems to be a red shirt, who entered and left the temple multiple times and grabbed a handful of the ang pows each time. She repeated the whole process around 6 times all the while storing her haul in the bag she was carrying.
The volunteer estimated that the woman took around 480 and pows, thus leaving with a sum of S$96.
No police report was filed by the temple personnel because the auntie technically did not commit a crime. Although the volunteer hopes to create awareness of this encounter because this was the first time that one person took this much. In his statement, he said, “I feel that this woman is selfish and greedy.”
Netizens were quite understanding of this situation and gave the auntie the benefit of the doubt because she could have really needed the money. Others also said that this was between her and the god she was praying to at the temple, therefore, no judgements could be passed.
