I have been sharing some of my favorite angpow pieces on an angpow collectors group in Facebook and some members have been telling me to continue sharing my memorable stories and so I thought, why not write it down, that way, our kiddos can read about it when they grow up next time, eh?
For those of you who are not familiar or never heard of the words 'Angpow' (also known as 'ang pau', 'ang pao', 'angpau'), here is a quick definition:
Angpow = Red Packet (filled with cash inside) given during festivals
So for today's angpow story, it revolves around these few angpows:
What do they all have in common?
Hibiscus.
Malaysia' own national flower.
The red one that is. There's a light pink one which is South Korea's national flower. The red of the petals symbolizes the courage, life, and rapid growth of the Malaysian, and the five petals represent the five Rukun Negara of Malaysia.
I remembered back when I was in primary school (no Internet, no Google, no Youtube, heck not even PC), we rely on natural resources whenever we were assigned with homework. To bring a type of flower, to bring a type of spice, to bring a type of plants, to bring a type of fruits and so on.
I remembered asking my late father to look for flowers for me. Something different from the usual ones that my classmates brought. They brought bougainvilla (bunga kertas), orchid (which my late mum planted but was not flowering at that moment), bunga tahi ayam, kemboja and don't know what else. He rode his motorbike around our old neighborhood (terrace houses where there is small plot of garden for people to plant stuff) looking for these beautiful flowers. I was so happy when he brought home some!
So I brought hibiscus. And very happy to be the different one.
Till today, whenever I see a hibiscus flower, I will remembered my childhood memories. And I will make sure to tell this story to our kiddos, so that he knows and be proud of our own national flower. (refer comments for the few designs)
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