Red Envelops

At 8:30 in the morning, I waited in line with my husband and our Indonesian maid Eni in front of Pei-tien Temple to collect red envelops from the government officials. I asked the policemen who kept the order, how big red envelop I could get, NT$200, NT$20, NT$10? He didn't know and I was curious!

The moment I received the red envelop from Ms. Chang Hwa-Kuan, Chia-yi County Magistrate, I opened it. It was a NT$5 coin attached to a new year card of year of dragon. Why five dollars in stead of two dollars? Number 5 is auspicious in Japan, because of the pronunciation of 5 in Japanese "Go". "Go" means luck or fortune in Japanese. Japanese people worship in the temples by donating five yens.

Better five than two, in terms of amount and value of a red envelop! In addition to the red envelop, I also had a couple of photos taken with Ms. Chang Hwa-Kuan, Chia-yi County Magistrate, and with Chen Ming-wen, the newly elected legislator from Chia-yi. It was the first time in my life to meet all big heads in Chia-yi on the second day of the Chinese New Year.

The second day of the Chinese New Year is for the married daughters to visit their birth parents, relatives and close friends. Even I was born in Chia-yi, my family moved to Taipei before I got married. I haven't followed the tradition to return home on the second day of the Chinese New Year since I got married to avoid the traffic jam on the freeway.

My husband gave me a red envelop on New Year Eve. I gave Eni a red envelop on New Year Eve. It is auspicious to receive red envelops from the elderly. It is fortunate to give away red envelops to the youngsters. I put the red envelops beneath my pillow during the Chinese New Year to wish for a prosperous year to come.