Share just the joy on your big day
A wedding is a special event, but guests shouldn't feel obliged to help pay for it
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Vivien Ang
MY PHONE buzzed. It was a friend in a Whatsapp group chat informing us of an upcoming wedding. Before I knew it, a separatechat group had been created, and I was drowned in a flood of messages with friends saying "how much to give ah", "wah, third 'red bomb' I got for this year already, I will go pok (broke)", and "xxx hotel very expensive". Onekind soul, to clarify our doubts on the "appropriate amount" to give lest we seemed like misers, promptly sent us a Her World online article with hongbao rates for hotel weddings and banquets in 2019!
Curiosity piqued, I perused the list and was aghast to find out that S$150 per personfor a dinner was the recommended hongbao rate for more than half the hotels. I was under the illusion that S$130 would suffice, but apparently, I was living in 2015, as the "price goes up about S$100 each year for banquets", someone proclaimed. Feeling a little chagrined, I proceeded to embark on a quest by asking some other people around me if they usually follow the recommended rates and the answer was a unanimous "will try, lor".
The next thought that came to mind was: "But why?"
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