An official lost his job for receiving "huge" lucky money.
Inspectors in a province have warned officials to be careful when accepting “unreasonably large” lucky money payments via smartphone apps after some officials lost their jobs for accepting “huge” amounts of money.
"Virtual" red envelopes on the Wechat app. Photo: Wechat
Hubei DailyA report on February 22 quoted an official from the Discipline Inspection Commission in Hubei province, warning that officials should be careful when receiving virtual red envelopes with “huge” values. Although lucky money has many meanings during the New Year, according to the inspection agency, it still poses risks of conflicts of interest, especially among officials.
“There are clear provisions in the law that prevent officials from accepting gifts, money and shopping cards that could affect the fair performance of their duties and responsibilities,”Hubei Dailywrite.
Although it did not set a specific limit, the Hubei anti-corruption agency said that the amount of money officials receive “should not exceed a reasonable amount.” The agency cited the example of Zhong Wentian, an official in Longyan City, Fujian Province, who lost his job after receiving red envelopes worth a total of $1,650 from a local businessman. Or Dai Xiaohui, also from Fujian, who lost his job after receiving $1,695.
In recent years, Chinese people have often had the habit of giving lucky money to friends, relatives and family through "virtual" lucky money envelopes available on money transfer applications on smartphones. First introduced by China's leading technology group Tencent through the social networking application Wechat, the virtual lucky money feature quickly became a fever because of its convenience and speed. According to Chinese media reports, the number of people receiving virtual lucky money in China this year increased by 10% compared to the same period in 2017, to 768 million people.
In Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, a man received 3,429 lucky red envelopes while a man in Chongqing received 2,723 in just five days. According to Tencent statistics, during the New Year holiday in 2016, about 516 million people received and sent a total of 32 billion yuan ($5 billion).
This has raised concerns about bribery disguised as lucky money.
Lucky money has long been a tradition in China, symbolizing good luck in the new year. Photo: SCMP
