Lunar New Year: Who owns the 'lucky money' in a red envelope?
農歷新年： 紅包里的“壓歲錢”該屬于誰？
Red is a symbol of prosperity and wealth in Chinese culture
紅色在中國文化里代表昌盛和財富
Every Lunar New Year, children are typically given red envelopes containing "lucky money", meant to represent good wishes for the year ahead.
每逢農歷新年，孩子們通常都會得到紅包，里面有 “壓歲錢”，作為對來年的美好祝愿。
Beginning this year on 16 February, the holiday is celebrated by hundreds of millions of people around the world.
今年從2月16日開始，世界各地億萬人群，在慶祝這個節日。
But this week, the case of a woman suing her parents for pocketing 58,000 Chinese yuan ($9,200, ￡6,600) of what she received, has got people asking who owns the money in a red envelope - the children or their parents?
但這個星期，一個女人以其父母私吞她收到的5.8萬元人民幣 (9200 美元, 6600 英鎊) 為由，將她的父母告上法庭。 這使人們不由得問自己，到底紅包的錢該屬于誰 - 孩子還是他們的父母？
What is a red envelope?
什么是紅包？
It is referred to by many names - in Mandarin it's called "hongbao" and in Cantonese it is "lai see" - but what it is essentially is an envelope filled with cash.
它有許多名字-普通話里它叫 “紅包”，而粵語里它是 “利事 ” – 實際上它就是一個裝著現金的紅紙包。
It is generally given out to children or younger unmarried relatives during Chinese New Year by those who are already married as tokens of good fortune and blessing for the year ahead.
在農歷新年期間，已婚的人通常會給孩子或年輕的未婚親屬發紅包，以表示對未來一年的吉祥祝福。
Typically, only married folks give out red envelopes, though unmarried people can also do so if they are feeling particularly generous.
通常情況下，只有已婚的人才會發出紅包，但未婚的人如果特別大方，也可以這樣做。
The amount of money in a red envelope can vary from as little as $2 to hundreds of dollars.
紅包里的錢可以從2美元到上百美元不等。
What happened in this incident?
這件事是怎么回事？
Earlier this week, a university student from China's south-western Yunnan province won a case against her parents, who she claims "embezzled" her red packet money, Chinese media reported.
據中國媒體報道，本周早些時候，一位來自中國西南云南省的大學生贏得了對她父母的訴訟，她聲稱她的父母 “盜用” 了她的紅包壓歲錢。
embezzled：貪污、盜用（公款）
She said they had kept some 58,000 yuan worth of red envelopes that were given to her over the years.
她說，這些年來，她的父母私吞了給她的約5.8萬元的紅包錢。
The woman, identified only as Juan, said she resorted to legal action after her divorced parents refused to pay her university tuition fees.
這名被稱為“娟”的女子說，她的已經離婚的父母拒絕支付她大學學費，她只能訴諸法律了。
The court ruled in her favour and her parents were ordered to pay her 1,500 yuan every month until she graduated from university.
法院裁決她勝訴，她的父母被勒令每月付給她1500元，直到她大學畢業。
So who should get to keep red envelope money?
那么誰有權利留下紅包的錢呢？
People are divided.
人們眾說紛紜。
Some say that parents should be allowed to keep the money as compensation for what they give out to other children and the general cost of raising a child.
有人說，父母應該有權利把錢留下以作為他們給其他孩子紅包的補償，以及撫養孩子的一般費用的補償。
"My parents would keep our money to balance out what they had to give to others," Angeline Ang-Pang, who lives in Singapore, told the BBC. "My sister and I were okay with that because they always took time to explain that money isn't easy to earn.”
“我的父母會留下我們的錢，以來支付他們要給別人的錢，” 住在新加坡的Angeline Ang-Pan，告訴 BBC。“我姐姐和我都認為沒問題，因為他們總是花時間和我們解釋錢賺不容易。”
Another Singaporean shared a similar experience.
另一位新加坡人也有類似的經歷。
"My parents told us that it was their way of covering the 'cost' of giving out hongbaos," said Pengli. "It still makes sense to me, cause the significance of it is not the money but more the act of giving.”
“我的父母告訴我們，這是他們收回給別人紅包的‘成本‘的辦法。” Pengli 說“對我而言，這么做是有意義的，并非只是錢，而是”給予“這件事的本身。”
Ashley Chan, a 27-year-old based in Hong Kong, told the BBC she also thought it was the parents who should keep the money.
在香港的27歲的Ashley Chan對 BBC 說，她也認為應該把錢留給父母。
"They paid for my education, gave me an allowance and basically paid for everything when I was young.”
“他們為我的教育花錢，給我零用錢，我年輕的時候基本上所有的花費都是他們支付的。”
But not everyone agrees, saying the money belongs to its intended recipients - the children.
但并非每個人都同意這種觀點，有的人說錢應該歸收紅包的人本人 — 也就是孩子們。
"The money was intended to be for you, so it's yours," said a user of Chinese micro-blogging website Weibo.
“這錢本來就是給你的，所以應該歸你，” 中國的一位微博用戶說。
"I'm 24 this year and I've kept the money from all my red envelopes. My parents have not gained even one cent," another user said.
“我今年 24，我所有紅包里的錢一直都是我自己存著，我的父母一分錢都沒得到。”另一位用戶說。
"My parents deposited my money into a bank account for me and I got it back later on," said Justin Ng, a 28-year-old based in Singapore.
“我的父母把我的錢存入了一個銀行賬戶里，后來我把它們全拿回來了，” 在新加坡的28歲的Justin Ng.
One parent the BBC spoke to agreed, saying that they believed the child had a right to their "lucky money".
一位被BBC采訪的父母同意，他們認為孩子有權獲得他們的 “壓歲錢"。
"For my kids, I keep the money and I'll give it back to them in future," said Rose Lim. "I think the child should be entitled to the money. Without the child, there wouldn't be the money to begin with.”
“為了我的孩子們，我把錢留著，然后會在將來還給他們，” Rose Lim說. “我認為孩子應該有權獲得這筆錢。如果沒有孩子，壓根兒就不會有這個錢。”
to begin with：根本，開始
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