Basic HTML Version
L
ike many couples, Mai Thuy and her husband are fight-
ing about a troublesome matter that rears its head every
year - spending on gifts for Tet. Mai has worked for a
state owned company for nearly 10 years and her salary
is around VND3 million. Selling dried noodles online also nets
her VND500,000-700,000 per month. Her husband’s monthly
income is about VND7 million. “According to my husband,
gifts for our bosses should total around VND5-7 million.
What’s left to spend for family?” Mai complains.
Lunar Tet is the most eagerly anticipated time of the year
for children, however for adults, it can be a huge burden due
to the significant spending it entails.
Mai’s shopping list is typical: food, including traditional
foods, to offer at the altar every day; confectionaries; new
clothes for children and parents; lucky money for kids and
the elderly; and more money to give parents, parents in-
law and many more people besides. So, Mai believes,
gifts for bosses should be half that of her husband’s
expectations.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of gift pack-
ages, normally including wine, tea, cookies and coffee,
will be sold in large supermarkets nationwide before lunar
Tet. Alongside these, many buy from street stalls or prepare
their own.
Many people are pondering how to balance their finances
over the period. Minh Vu, an office worker at a transportation
company, shares his concerns: “It is a norm at my office to give
a present to the boss on any
special occasion. He
doesn’t ask di-
tet special
20
timeout
21
timeout
rectly, but he regularly holds family ceremonies and always
invites his staff. Of course, an envelop or a bottle of imported
wine is indispensable. I am afraid of lunar Tet when gifts for
my boss can eat up my salary (about VND3.5 million) or my Tet
bonus (over VND2 million).”
Phuong Hanh, a wine shop owner, says that this is the
peak time of year for his business: “Even in these hard eco-
nomic conditions, people still have to spend big on gifts to
give bosses or partners. Sometimes bills reach in to the tens
of million dong.”
Bui Thi Thu, a 34 year old woman living in Hanoi, has
spent VND12 million on 10 bottles of imported wine for the
occasion. Her company has spent over VND40 million on gift
packages for their partners. “We need to pay that lubrication
cost to tighten working relationships and to make things go
smoothly,” says Thu.
Minh Tuan, who works for a bank in Hanoi, also has com-
plaints. “This year I will not get a Tet bonus at all, but gifts for
the bosses remain necessary,” he says. This situation is com-
mon in state-owned organisations, but not private or foreign
run businesses.
Hong Lien, who works for a foreign company, says she
never has to think about gifts. This year, she intents to buy
some
o mai
(candied fruits) to present to her foreign boss,
simply because his children like them – there is no pressure
to do so.
Alongside the spending, knowing what to buy is another
cause of worry. “The gift is to express your respect and care,
so the recipient will dictate its value. It is not easy to choose;
you cannot bring the same gift for the second time, or bring
a gift that is not commensurate with the recipient’s position,”
Tuan explains.
While staff are struggling to choose an affordable and
suitable present, many recipients are getting creative with
what they recieve. Anh Phuong, who works at an insurance
company, says she knows of people who sell on their gifts:
“One day, my friend who works at a state owned corporation
called me saying that her boss’s wife had asked her to sell off
a stash of imported wines which her husband had been given
– the trunk of her car was full of bottles.”
27 year old Thanh Ha, whose father is an official in
Haiphong, says that every year she takes her father’s imported
wines to sell in Hanoi. ”Alternatively, I will sell them on the
internet at a slightly lower price.”
Thu Huong, an HR manager at a communication com-
pany in Hanoi, has faced a more complicated case: “My hus-
band is in a market managing team. Two people from
a company came to our house for an early Tet visit,”
she says. “They brought a gift of a Buddha statue
and an envelope of money. My husband was not at
home and I decided to let them take the gifts back.
Then, after thinking for a while, they agreed to
take the money, but convinced me to keep the
statue which is said to bring luck and safety.
Several days later, my friend who buys and
sells gems came over and saw the statue.
He said that a statue of its size made with such rare gems
may cost several hundred million dong. We were startled and
returned the statue immediately.”
Nguyen Manh Hung, director of Thai Ha Books, believes
gift-giving is a beautiful tradition used to express gratefulness
and respect. However, he adds that in today’s economic cli-
mate, things are not so simple. “I remember years ago when
I took an imported bottle of wine to my senior’s home,” Hung
recalls, “he said half seriously that I had better buy the wine
at his wine shop because any bottle would be resold there.”
Recently, many youngsters have voiced their objections
to the custom which allows people to use money and mate-
rial values in place of talent. However, many think that if
people do not tow the line, their chances of success will be
eliminated.
The government’s Instruction 21 now bans any form of
gift giving to seniors to avoid the distorting effects of the
practice, but its enforcement is weak. “Banning gift-giving
to seniors has been ineffective. Without close checks it can-
not reduce bribery,” says professor Ngo Duc Thinh, a culture
researcher. “ He himself views gift-giving as a positive custom
and thinks the real issue is building the right cultural and
moral background so that nobody takes advantage of it.
Giftgivingisamajoraspectof theLunarNewYear inVietnam,meaningthat formany it representsatimeof
stress and financial worry. Words by
Nhung Nguyen
The minefield of Tet