WHICH one will it be? 

Courtesy: pexels.com / @Angela Roma

Before Christmas–our ninong and ninangs would often hand us this red envelope that contains money. That red envelope is known by many as angpao. 

The practice of receiving and giving out angpao or hongbao first began in China on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, given as a form of good wishes and luck for the new year ahead.  

But with the advent of e-wallets such as GCash, are Gen Zs still fond of angpao? 

RepublicAsia had gathered responses from different Gen Zs, and surprisingly, all of them except one chose to receive GCash.

Clarence, a senior high school student from STI College, says he prefers to receive an angpao because he wants to be surprised. 

He also prefers to get angpao because the GCash app occasionally experiences technical difficulties.

“For sure, a lot of people would prefer to receive GCash, but using GCash as a payment can have technical difficulties. Like last week, I tried buying something from the mall but they (the vendor) claimed that they haven’t received my payment,’’ he said.

Clifford, a senior high school student from the University of Santo Tomas, says while he prefers GCash, he wouldn’t mind receiving an angpao.

GCash, however, offers more flexibility, according to Holland, a college student from Lyceum of the Philippines University. 

“Because when it comes to GCash, your titas and ninangs can always send it to you even though you’re far from them. They wouldn’t have an excuse to say that they will just give it to you next time because that’s always the case for angpao,” Holland added.