Celebrate your birthday by scanning QR codes to receive money
“This year, it has become a trend to print QR codes on children’s hairpins, bags, or other accessories. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, when I went down from the 5th floor of my apartment building, I saw children with QR codes everywhere. Looking at this image, I didn’t feel happy, just puzzled. Before Tet, young men and women competed to post QR codes on Facebook, asking others to transfer money to them. This is why I want to organize a discussion titled ‘QR Codes for Lucky Money: Is it appropriate?’ to hear people’s opinions about this way of celebrating birthdays.” Dr. Truong Van Hai, a sociologist, explained the reason for organizing this talk “earliest in the North-South region” even before offices resumed work.
The initial QR code for lucky money was started by an application and attracted many participants (the image was generated by an AI-powered momo application)
An example of a story that Mr. Hai brought up might be “controversial,” as the number of online registrations from all three regions, North, Central, and South, turned out to be twice as many as expected. The discussion session lasted for more than 3 hours instead of the announced 2 hours, and many people still wanted to continue speaking.
“In my eyes, these actions are very similar to those who comment on charity websites or posts by individuals with a large number of followers, presenting pitiful or unfortunate situations, or claiming to have lost their wallet or money, along with their bank account number and QR code, asking people to transfer money,” one commenter expressed.
“People say this is a charming and humorous way to ask for lucky money, without emphasizing material value, but in reality, it has been distorted. Many people on their personal pages have directly tagged and reminded those they perceive as “must give lucky money” individuals, causing a lot of difficulties for the givers. There are even individuals who publicly display their bank statements, mentioning who received more lucky money, who received less, who hasn’t received any at all… turning the story into something far from the original auspicious meaning,” writer Nguyen Thuy shared.
“Most people who post QR codes will include a message like ‘everyone, please give me lucky money, as you wish,’ which is nothing more than begging in an air-conditioned room,” engineer Nguyen Tuan, known as Manh Thuong Quan for many mountainous bookstores, reacted more strongly.
In reality, after online payment became popular, the act of printing QR codes to ask for lucky money has gained popularity among young people and young parents. “It’s fun, if it works, great; if not, it doesn’t matter.” However, there are quite a few objections to this practice. Many people share their “painful experiences” when they see children wearing QR codes on their chests (or heads). They perceive it as “an act of shamelessly begging for money” that makes others “reluctant to help.”
Also within the “QR code trend everywhere” ecosystem, some people condemn the online wedding invitation on personal pages accompanied by payment transfer codes with phrases like: “Knowing many people are busy and cannot attend the wedding, I am posting my bank account number here for everyone to send gifts,” or “those who are far away and cannot attend, please send gifts via bank transfer…”
“I find this really confusing. Are they having an online feast or what? People only use QR codes when selling things.” “If you want to celebrate a wedding, there are many other appropriate ways. People can ask for the bride and groom’s bank account numbers from friends and relatives or have someone else accept the gifts on their behalf, instead of publicly posting their bank account numbers like this, demanding specific amounts of lucky money. Not many people will feel comfortable with that!”…
As someone who directly participates in the “asking for lucky money via QR codes” trend, Ms. Truong Minh Ngoc (Ho Chi Minh City) shared: “I think everyone is doing it, and I also thought it was fun. But it really was fun. I posted it for a whole month, and no one sent me any money, not to mention hundreds of thousands, not even one thousand. When the excitement passed, I looked back and realized how ridiculous this way is. Personally, I wouldn’t make such a transfer either.”
Returning to the practice of printing QR codes for children to wear during Tet visits, most objections come from older people. “In this manner, children will no longer understand the true nature of the New Year’s tradition of giving lucky money.” “Why has a good custom become something that is forced upon and given like that?” “Parents are thoughtless, but in the eyes of many people, they are tactless.” “No matter how you look at it, it resembles a blatant money fountain-like behavior, making others feel embarrassed.” “Giving lucky money through QR codes into parents’ accounts is nothing less than a way of demanding money from each other”…
“Many civilized young people have spent a lot of time promoting the tradition of giving lucky money through books or seeds instead of money. Somehow, this ugly distortion has emerged. I object to any form of giving money as lucky money. Don’t let practical actions of adults distort children’s perspectives on life,” Dr. Truong Van Hai shared.
Trend or not, please don’t judge harshly!
Alongside objections, many people defend the act of giving lucky money or celebrating weddings through QR codes and bank transfers.
“It’s fast, convenient, following the trend of not using cash, considering it as civilization,” TikToker Huy Quan expressed his opinion. He also added: “Please think lightly about this because it is not yet a serious problem. Besides, it is entirely up to the person whether or not to give. There is no coercion.”
Some sample lucky money QR codes introduced on e-commerce platforms
Some of those who participated in the practice of displaying QR codes for lucky money claim that they did it for fun. Many people proudly display their transaction histories, showing one or two thousand dong transfers with expressions of excitement. Others “subtly remind” those who oppose not to be too strict in evaluating a trend because if it is inappropriate or “migrates,” it will disappear on its own. While many participants openly expressed: this way of asking is still public, “better than sneaky or deceptive begging.”
An invited guest, who introduced himself as a “loyal fan” of QR codes, shared: “Everyone only talks about distortions and forgets the interesting intentions of this trend. Requesting lucky money online means you can celebrate any amount of money, even very small or odd amounts. Let me give you an example: when you want to celebrate someone’s birthday with a beautiful amount, like a lucky number (68.68) or prosperity (86.86), or express your affection like a divine celestial connection (99.99), or even celebrate the exact age of the person… how could you do it with traditional lucky money envelopes? Not to mention that this way of giving lucky money, from a positive perspective, can help save the cost of buying envelopes and reduce waste after Tet…”
The issue of supporting or opposing online money requests has not yet been concluded, and it is currently a topic of debate on many forums after Tet. Some KOLs (influencers on social media) have also brought up this topic for discussion on their personal pages. After expressing his opposition to online lucky money requests and receiving more than 3,000 likes, one user commented: “At a certain age, we will be afraid to receive any gifts. Not to mention a small gift, even one dong is a debt. Being in debt is very tiring” and received numerous shared sentiments from netizens.
In reality, the number of “QR code enthusiasts” is significant. Evidence is the continuous appearance of various establishments “specializing in printing QR codes on cute objects to carry around.” This type of service is now more diverse and easier to find. For adults, QR codes are advised to be printed on phone cases, keychains made of acrylic. As for children, parents’ QR codes can be directly printed on hairpins, wristbands, or scarves…
It is known that each QR code designed and printed on acrylic costs between 30,000 and 50,000 VND per item. One QR code printing establishment advertised heavily on the Shopee e-commerce platform talked about their business during the recent Tet holiday: “Our establishment printed nearly 10,000 ‘QR codes attached to individuals’ products’ just during the Year of the Horse Tet. This person also predicted that business would be more prosperous in the coming years.
