Taiwanese were the most generous among ethnic Chinese communities in Asia in handing out “red envelopes” during the Lunar New Year, a survey conducted by market researcher TNS has found.
Singapore media, including Lianhe Zaobao and My Paper, reported on the survey conducted by TNS, which interviewed 5,000 people in Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan last month on their Lunar New Year plans.
Taiwanese respondents budgeted the most for red envelopes during the Lunar New Year, setting aside an average of NT$28,868 (US$976), the survey found.
Photo: Ou Su-mei, Taipei Times
This compares with S$1,133 (US$915) averaged by respondents from Singapore, 3,668 yuan (US$587) in China, HK$4,474 (US$577) in Hong Kong and 1,555 ringgit (US$502) in Malaysia.
When asked how they would distribute the cash gifts among family members, relatives, friends, colleagues and employees during the Lunar New Year, Taiwanese were the most generous to their family members, giving them an average of NT$20,050 in red envelopes.
Respondents in the other four economies gave family members an average of between US$166 in Singapore and US$212 in China. Taiwanese also budgeted the most for red envelopes given to relatives, averaging NT$4,715.
However, the cash gifts Taiwanese planned to give to friends, colleagues and employees were smaller than in other areas surveyed, registering NT$474, NT$236 and NT$525 respectively.
The survey also found that Taiwanese were in the middle of the pack when it came to saving money received in red envelopes, with 71 percent of respondents saying they would deposit a portion of it in the bank.
Chinese and Malaysian respondents were even more likely to save their gifts, at 78 percent and 73 percent respectively, while people in Hong Kong (66 percent) and Singapore (63 percent) were less likely to save their cash gift.
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