4,000 queue up for hongbao attemple
By Liew Hanqing
December 14, 2008
THEY showed up in droves and queued up for hours - just to get a hongbao.
Some 4,000 people formed a long line outside the Thong Teck Sian Tong Lian Sin Sia temple in Balestier yesterday for the hongbao, which contained between $10 and $30 each.
Temple volunteers, deployed to keep the crowd orderly, made sure the people entered the temple in small groups.
The temple's secretary, Ms Tay Poey Noy, said that only people over 60 years old who are on public assistance were eligible for the hongbao.
However, those who did not have their public assistance cards with them were still given a token $10 hongbao each for making the effort to show up.
Ms Tay said: 'We had to turn people away. There were some people who were younger than 60, but considered themselves elderly. It was difficult to have to turn them away, but we had no choice.'
Some 3,000 pieces of hongbao were prepared in advance, she said, but the temple ended up giving out more than originally planned, due to overwhelming demand.
Some of those in the queue were children who had shown up on behalf of their elderly parents to collect the hongbao.
No proof
OVERWHELMING DEMAND: So many people turned up that the temple volunteers ended up giving away more hongbao than the 3,000 they had prepared. The crowd was much larger than in previous years. --PICTURES: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS
Ms Tay said: 'But in some cases, they had no proof of their relationship with the public assistance cardholders, so we will have to make home visits later.'
She added that temple volunteers had taken down about 100 names of such cases, which have to be individually assessed for eligibility.
She said: 'Some of them aren't happy and have been calling us non-stop, asking when we're going to visit them. It is quite chaotic.'
This year's crowd, Ms Tay said, was significantly larger than in previous years.
She said: 'We officially opened at 7.30am, but people had started queuing from 6am.'
As an act of goodwill, the temple provided buns and beverages for the early birds.
Mr Chua Lai Teck, 51, a merchant, was on his way to work when he saw the queue outside the temple.
He said: 'I haven't seen such a long line for a long time. Times are really bad. I felt for the old folk.'
Mr Chua said that the last time he saw such a long line-up outside the temple was some 10 years ago, during the Asian financial crisis.
He added: 'Perhaps the charitable organisations will be able to band together to offer some additional help to the needy.'
By Liew Hanqing
December 14, 2008
THEY showed up in droves and queued up for hours - just to get a hongbao.
Some 4,000 people formed a long line outside the Thong Teck Sian Tong Lian Sin Sia temple in Balestier yesterday for the hongbao, which contained between $10 and $30 each.
Temple volunteers, deployed to keep the crowd orderly, made sure the people entered the temple in small groups.
The temple's secretary, Ms Tay Poey Noy, said that only people over 60 years old who are on public assistance were eligible for the hongbao.
However, those who did not have their public assistance cards with them were still given a token $10 hongbao each for making the effort to show up.
Ms Tay said: 'We had to turn people away. There were some people who were younger than 60, but considered themselves elderly. It was difficult to have to turn them away, but we had no choice.'
Some 3,000 pieces of hongbao were prepared in advance, she said, but the temple ended up giving out more than originally planned, due to overwhelming demand.
Some of those in the queue were children who had shown up on behalf of their elderly parents to collect the hongbao.
No proof
OVERWHELMING DEMAND: So many people turned up that the temple volunteers ended up giving away more hongbao than the 3,000 they had prepared. The crowd was much larger than in previous years. --PICTURES: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS
Ms Tay said: 'But in some cases, they had no proof of their relationship with the public assistance cardholders, so we will have to make home visits later.'
She added that temple volunteers had taken down about 100 names of such cases, which have to be individually assessed for eligibility.
She said: 'Some of them aren't happy and have been calling us non-stop, asking when we're going to visit them. It is quite chaotic.'
This year's crowd, Ms Tay said, was significantly larger than in previous years.
She said: 'We officially opened at 7.30am, but people had started queuing from 6am.'
As an act of goodwill, the temple provided buns and beverages for the early birds.
Mr Chua Lai Teck, 51, a merchant, was on his way to work when he saw the queue outside the temple.
He said: 'I haven't seen such a long line for a long time. Times are really bad. I felt for the old folk.'
Mr Chua said that the last time he saw such a long line-up outside the temple was some 10 years ago, during the Asian financial crisis.
He added: 'Perhaps the charitable organisations will be able to band together to offer some additional help to the needy.'
