From hobby to charity
What started out as an interest has now become a platform for an angpow collector to help alleviate the burden of childhood cancer
You see – new angpows are printed every year, usually a month or two before the Chinese New Year. In the eyes of an angpow collector, the ‘never-to-be-repeated’ designs would end up becoming precious, limited-edition items as the years go by past their release dates.
— Bong Kim Foon, angpow collector
IT is safe to assume that most Malaysians recognise ‘angpow’ as the red packets containing cash that the Chinese folks give away during major festive seasons and also during special occasions such as weddings, celebrating the birth of a newborn baby, and birthdays.
This practice is said to have originated during the Sung Dynasty (960-1279) in Chang Chieu, China.
Legend has it that during that time, an evil demon was terrorising a village – striking fear in the heart of every villager as it continued attacking them and destroying everything in its path.
Then, a young man emerged, wielding a magical sword that he inherited from his ancestors as he set out to end the rampage. In the end, the demon was finally vanquished.
It was a victory so meaningful that the village elders presented the hero with money wrapped in red paper, as a token of appreciation for such a valiant feat.
Thus, angpow tradition was born and has since become a part of Chinese customs, in addition to it gradually becoming a representation of well-wishes and blessings from the giver to the receiver.
Back in the old days, however, the angpow was just a simple red packet – it could be made either from paper or cloth – containing money that the Chinese elderly folks or married couples would present to the young people, specifically the unmarried youths and children.
Nowadays, this tradition has not only infused in contemporary trends as far as its appearance goes, but its value has also evolved to a level that is similar to that of collector’s items like commemorative coins, rare stamps or vintage comic books.
Putting it more simply, there are now individuals who are willing to fork up a small fortune just to have their own collections of limited-edition angpows.
‘It started as a hobby’
Bong Kim Foon, 50, is amongst the well-known angpow collectors in Miri.
The retired tuition teacher started collecting these red packets in the early 1990s, inspired by her friend who was already an established collector then.
“Before that, I had no idea how interesting this hobby was. My friend showed me her collection, comprising many limited-edition pieces.
“You see – new angpows are printed every year, usually a month or two before the Chinese New Year. In the eyes of an angpow collector, the ‘never-tobe-repeated’ designs would end up becoming precious, limitededition items as the years go by past their release dates.
“We know that institutions like banks and corporate companies would print and give away angpows every Chinese New Year season as tokens of appreciation to their clients.
“For us, it is an annual task to get these mini-envelopes from the banks and corporations, or to exchange our own stock with other collectors.
“It’s fun!” she told thesundaypost when met at her house in Krokop 9 recently.
Organisation of collection
The way Bong organises her collection can be described as being similar to how a curator would manage museum exhibits – through detailed and meticulous classification.
“Having hundreds of thousands of angpows in one collection, you’d want to arrange them properly, based on themes. There are so many exquisite design themes like the ‘12 Zodiacs’, ‘Pretty Chinese Women in Cheongsam’, as well as those meant to commemorate heritage buildings or landmarks – you name it and surely, there’s a collection of it.
“The more hardcore collectors would go the extra mile in their classification, such as including the origin and period subcategories, each with its own so-called album.
“It’s a labour of love – they would take their own sweet time reminiscing all their hard work in obtaining these packets.”
Turning point
Bong became a teacher right after she completed her secondary education as she had always loved teaching and connecting with children.
In 2013, she found out that one of her students was diagnosed with cancer.
“It broke my heart. “That was when I got to know Sarawak Children’s Cancer Society (SCCS), a nongovernmental organisation (NGO) that’s out to help children with cancer get treatment and also to help their families as well.
“Back then, I had a plan to do a charity sale, through SCCS, to help raise some funds to help children suffering from cancer. It took me many months to observe what and how to do a charity sale, and as fate would have it, I chanced upon a conversation with an experienced friend who opened my eyes to this thing called ‘angpow auctioning’.
“I must admit that at first, I felt that my collection was too precious for sale, but I proceeded with the plan, knowing that it was for charity.”
Bong regarded auctioning as being ‘definitely different from selling stuff – it was a whole new way of raising funds’.
“Following a ‘crash course’ by that friend, I managed to raise quite a big amount of money within a fixed time. I was surprised when some bidders offered me up to thousands of ringgit for some very-limitededition angpows, but I guessed they saw the value as being way beyond the cash that they spent on them,” she said.
That three-month online auction in 2014, generated RM14,370, from which the proceeds were later channelled to the SCCS through its Miri liaison coordinator, Jocelyn Hee.
Bong revealed that there had been some doubts and hesitation over the auction being run on Facebook, but she was happy and relieved to see that such an endeavour ended up becoming a great success.
Since then, thousands of angpows have been coming in via parcels not only from all across Malaysia, but also from overseas.
According to Bong, many of these collectors are those whom she has befriended via Facebook.
From that first auction, Bong went on to run more sales between 2015 and 2021, throughout which she managed to raise more than RM250,000, with all proceeds going directly to SCCS.
Breaking the figures down, her ‘AngPow Collectors Charity Auction’ series collected RM31,888 in 2015, RM40,888 in 2016, RM88,888.88 in 2017, RM40,988.88 in 2018, RM34,888.88 in 2019, and RM20,000 in 2021.
“We all know that 2020 was the Covid-19 pandemic year, which had disrupted the lives of many people; as such, there was no auction held that year,” she said.
Bong said aside from being a fund-raiser for the cause of children with cancer, the auction programme also managed to collect RM15,170, meant for the two siblings who were severely injured when the cooking-gas cylinder at their house in Senadin exploded in May 2018.
The siblings, at the time, were Bong’s students.
Not without its problems
According to Bong, angpowhunting these days is no longer as easy as it had been years ago, with inflationary pressure affecting the cost of inputs such as paper and ink.
Establishments that used to give away tons of these red packets, have now set a limit on the quantity.
What is perhaps a consolation for such a move is that they would come up with more exquisite designs for every limited release, which attracts collectors and at the same time, enhances the aesthetic value of the packets.
“Some establishments have even uploaded posts on Facebook, encouraging interested netizens to share, like and tag their friends to stand a chance of winning some limitededition collections.
“For some quarters, they label this as capitalism; others seem to be enjoying the game and going with the flow. As long as there is a demand, there will always be supply,” said Bong.
She also acknowledged that with popularity and accomplishments, jealousy and animosity followed suit.
Bong later became a target for some haters, who were envious of her successful charity auction platform.
“I am a person who practises transparency when it comes to money. So far, collectors from various parts in Malaysia, as well as those in Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau, who own rare collections, would send them over to me to be put up for this charity auction.
“All proceeds go into the ‘AngPow Collectors Charity Sale’ account; down to every single cent, everything is put on record.
“The contributors get to see this in black and white, so they feel reassured that their collections have gone towards a noble cause. To date, I have close to 15,000 members who are following my ‘AngPow Collectors Charity Sale’ page,” she pointed out.
Having said that, Bong said she had also found out about rumours circulating on social media, intended to make her look bad and have her shunned by others.
“Yes, it takes a lot of energy and emotional strength to
continue this work; thankfully, I have my family and friends who are always there to support me.
“This hobby of collecting angpows started because of my love for beautiful angpows; back then, I never expected that it could do so much more.
“I guess along the way, I have made many friends and also many enemies – I believe that this is just part and parcel of life.”
Bong said she was often asked why she continued on amidst all the hate comments on social media.
“I’m just stubborn – plain and simple. But I’m also a person who is driven by this huge sense of responsibility. Whenever I start something, I would go all out in making it a success. I never wanted to disappoint myself and those whom I had given hope to.”
Leaving a legacy
In 2019, Bong collaborated with a few fellow collectors and gained the support from a private company, to hold a grand exhibition of thousands of multi-coloured and multidesigned angpows released during various eras.
Fast-forward to present day, she is now in a group of four avid angpow collectors, all voluntarily handling the charity auction series and raising funds for noble causes, especially childhood cancer.
“We want this charity drive to continue. For me, focusing on this and my family has now become much more important after having seen so many unhappy incidents over the past two years.”
Nevertheless, Bong admitted that at times, things could get overwhelming to a point where it really took a toll on her health.
About three years ago, she experienced a scary moment where her blood pressure shot up and she was down with a number of health issues.
“I’m blessed and thankful that my husband and our four daughters have always been very supportive of me. They are always by my side – they’re my solid pillars.”
She recovered well, but that episode prompted her to plan for the future management of her collections.
“I’m not too worried about the auction platform as I know that my team would be able to manage it well.
“I do plan to donate my collections to either SCCS or SM Pei Min, or both, which they could use to raise funds.
“That would be my legacy,” said Bong.