Year of the Tiger: Citi and other Hong Kong banks hand out electronic lai see as pandemic halts annual ritual
- Citi handed out HK$688 on Wednesday to 4,500 employees ahead of the Year of the Tiger, which begins on February 1
- HSBC and its Hang Seng Bank subsidiary will remit an electronic lai see of HK$500 to each of their 30,000 employees on the eve of the Year of the Tiger on January 31
Hong Kong’s banks are handing out their annual lai see to employees electronically, as the city’s resurgent Covid-19 outbreak kept many employees working from home and curtailed social mingling.
“We want to bring warmth and a little festive cheer to our staff before the holidays, and wish them a happy start to the new year,” Citi’s Hong Kong chief executive Angel Ng said.
The first three days of the Lunar New Year are public holidays and non-market days in Hong Kong, and most offices and businesses resume operations on Friday, February 4.
The lai see – cash wrapped in vibrantly coloured packets, typically red – is a tradition that harks back millennia, usually given by elders to young or unmarried visitors who come calling during the festive season. Six and eight, homonyms for “good fortune” and “prosperity,” are the favourite amounts to hand out.
