Giving lucky money and New Year wishes is a beautiful cultural trait of Vietnamese people.
In our country, the custom of giving lucky money has existed for a long time. According to the book Vietnamese customs by the famous journalist and writer Phan Ke Binh (1875 - 1921), "After worshipping the ancestors, children give lucky money to their grandparents and parents, bowing twice. Grandparents and parents give their children and grandchildren, each a few coins or a few cents, called lucky money."
The custom of giving lucky money in Vietnam has become a beautiful cultural feature at the beginning of the new year. When Tet comes, people often put money in red envelopes to give lucky money (mainly to children and the elderly), with the meaning of wishing for good luck, good fortune, and warding off evil spirits. For children, it is to wish them good health, growth, intelligence, and good study; for the elderly, it is to wish them good health, peace, and longevity...
Lucky money received during Tet is also called "opening money". In the past, there was a custom that the money put in the envelope must be in small change, implying that this money will grow and multiply. The amount of money in the lucky money envelope is not much, but for both the receiver and the giver, it brings joy and wishes for each other to receive good luck in the new year.
For thousands of years, every time the year ends and the New Year begins, the custom of giving lucky money at the beginning of the new year has become a national custom that people always cherish and preserve because it has both emotional and profound spiritual meaning.
The custom of giving lucky money later formed many different forms. If in the past, the exchange of lucky money only started from the first day of Tet, today, the time of exchanging lucky money and giving gifts has changed, the time is done both before and after Tet , the recipients of New Year wishes in many cases are the whole community. For example, political and social organizations and people in general wish New Year, give gifts to soldiers on duty to protect the borders and islands of the Fatherland; celebrate the longevity of the elderly; give gifts to people with meritorious services, the poor and the disadvantaged...
Variations of New Year greetings and gift giving
First of all, it must be affirmed that the custom of giving lucky money at the beginning of the new year is still inherited, maintained and promoted by the majority of people and socio-political organizations with its good values in a pure and impartial manner.
However, many people have abused and transformed the custom of New Year greetings into toxic "variants" in society, to carry out the purpose of investing in relationships.
For many years now, taking advantage of Tet greetings to “invest in relationships” has become a problem and left many consequences. Every year, the Secretariat and the Prime Minister issue directives “Do not organize visits and Tet greetings to superiors and leaders at all levels; do not organize delegations from the Central Government to visit and wish Tet greetings to Party committees and authorities of provinces and cities; strictly prohibit giving or presenting Tet gifts to leaders at all levels in any form...”.
A civil servant shared in the newspaper, “...most people still cannot give up or do not dare to give up wishing the New Year. I am a young civil servant, a few years ago I went to wish the leaders of the agency a Happy New Year, this year I did not go to the leaders' New Year's greetings but I feel uneasy.”
A journalist wrote, “Gifts are a burden to subordinates, to those who build business relationships, to those who want to advance in their careers, to those who want to escape their responsibilities, to those who rely on people in power to do this or that…”
Mr. Le Nhu Tien, Member of the 12th and 13th National Assembly, former Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture andEducation, shared: "I think we should not be too extreme about whether or not to give Tet gifts to superiors and to each other. First of all, Tet gifts are like normal gifts on important occasions, it is a traditional beauty, a cultural beauty of our Vietnamese people."
But, the worrying issue is the transformation. It is disguised bribery, it turns the beauty of Vietnamese people into profiteering schemes, we need to criticize and not prevent it will cause unpredictable consequences, especially this will be an opportunity, a "living ground" for corruption and bribery.
Mr. Le Nhu Tien's assessment is very accurate. The major corruption cases of Viet A test kits and Rescue Flights by businesses are undeniable evidence.
In most civilized countries, it is very normal for officials and even heads of state to receive gifts. However, in those countries, the laws are strict, strict, and clear, and law enforcement agencies closely monitor the acceptance of gifts. The accounts of heads of state and all officials and citizens are strictly monitored.
Therefore, in order to continue holding the position they are holding, from the head of state to all civil servants must voluntarily and honestly declare gifts. According to regulations and laws, the head of state or civil servant must voluntarily and voluntarily contribute any gifts of any value to public funds.
To eliminate the situation of using the name of New Year greetings and gift giving for the purpose of "investing in relationships" for personal gain, it is not enough to stop at the directives of competent authorities on prohibiting New Year greetings and gift giving to agencies and superior leaders, but it is necessary to legalize the forms of giving and receiving gifts, along with a mechanism for law enforcement agencies, political and social organizations and people to closely monitor.
At the same time, strongly reform the work of planning, selecting, and appointing personnel; eliminate the request-grant system in resource allocation. We must be sincere, substantial, and resolute in implementing transparency in these two areas.
Implementing the above solutions well will not only preserve the good values and purity of the nation's New Year greeting customs, but also eliminate the problem of distorting New Year greetings and gift-giving to invest in relationships for the purpose of profiteering; contribute to effectively and fundamentally preventing corruption; and build a clean state apparatus and political system that the Party is determined to build.
Nguyen Huy Vien
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