Just in time to welcome the Year of the Dog, Brenda Leung, Identity Communications Insights and Production Manager writes about New Year gift giving.
Gift giving plays an important role in Asian culture, especially during cultural festivals and special occasions. The Lunar New Year is the perfect time to prepare something special for your loved ones. It is essential to get something heartfelt, and at the same time meaningful with a good will message embedded in the gift. So choosing an appropriate and presentable New Year gift could be a headache; ranging from wines to food and tea, and to suit a variety of tastes for young and old.
Here are some quick ideas for the two most popular gift choices for you to consider.
Traditionally, Chinese and many other Asian cultures believe taking a precautionary approach is the most effective way to maintain good health conditions, and the most common practice to achieve this is through consumption of natural herbs or food with good nutritional values. For this reason, no other gifts can be better than any nourishing and nutritious herbs/food that can benefit one’s health with good nutritional value or natural remedies outcomes, especially if that gift is for the senior member in the family.
To make the process of getting the herb/natural food gifts easier, there are supplements of various brands available in supermarkets and pharmacist’s shops where you can find nutritious herbs and medicines such as various types of vitamins, fish oil, wolfberries, jujube dates, black sesame seeds, ginseng root and royal jelly. They’re stacked on shelves taking up the entire aisle, usually in gift boxes and are ready to give away as gifts. There are always the supplements that are suitable for certain age groups or one for the whole family.
Nowadays, supplements are the “modern form” of the traditional natural herbs and remedies, and can also make fantastic Lunar New Year gifts. They are particularly well received by people living in cities than those in rural areas, who are leading a busy life and are more likely to show others that they are always in the new trend.
Red Packets
For children, red packets with money inside are the most popular gifts during New Year. Who isn’t happy to get additional pocket money? Or for those parents who have long-run plans for the next generation, it is a good time to open a bank account and start the whole financial management journey for their children, with an educational purpose behind the whole idea.
No matter what gifts you are going to present to your family and friends, what’ most important is the loving thoughts – goodwill wishes of happiness, wellness and prosperity.