OPINION> Commentary
How kids can use yasuiqian
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-03 07:57

The ongoing financial crisis gives us an opportunity to educate our children how to rationally use the money given by seniors as gift during Spring Festival, says an article on the website www.jxcn.cn. The following is an excerpt:

As Spring Festival is drawing to its end, children may get a certain amount of yasuiqian, or money given to them as a lunar new year gift, by senior relatives or friends of their parents.

As the financial crisis spreads to China, it's significant for parents to help children properly use this gift money.

As a long-standing custom in China, yasuiqian shows seniors' care for and expectation of the younger generation, but some children may misunderstand this gift money - they may gauge the degree of love of seniors based on the amount of money and may believe that yasuiqian belongs to themselves and parents shouldn't intervene.

Therefore, parents should give their children correct guidance, making them aware that this money is part of the family assets and parents have the right to help them manage it. Of course, parents should also take into account children's plans about how to deal with the money. It will hurt those children if yasuiqian is totally taken away from their hands and it will have negative impacts if children splash this money without any restraints.

Probably, parents could help children create an independent fund and jointly design an overall usage plan for things such as education savings, purchase of goods for studies, donation for quake-hit area reconstruction and family trips.

Only by doing this can yasuiqian be used gainfully and the sense of thrift be planted into children's minds.

(China Daily 02/03/2009 page4)