Enter a budget and a currency to list red-packet amounts within 30% of it that have no 4 in them and are even or end in 9, each with the fewest notes that make it in SGD, MYR, HKD, TWD or RMB.
Hong Bao Amount Generator (红包金额)
Using the generator
Enter a budget
The tool looks for amounts within 30% either side of it.
Pick the currency
The currency decides which notes exist: Singapore’s smallest note is $2 and it has no $20; Hong Kong’s smallest is $10, and Taiwan’s regular notes start at NT$100.
Decide about coins
By default only amounts you can put together from notes are listed. Untick the box to see amounts such as HK$88 that need coins; the card says how much of it is coins.
Read the three groups
Amounts with an 8, amounts with a 9, and round amounts. Each card shows the fewest notes that make the amount; for SGD it also says whether $2, $10 and $50 notes alone are enough — the three the pop-up and selected ATMs at DBS, OCBC and UOB gave out for Lunar New Year 2026 (Citibank and Standard Chartered gave out only $10 and $50).
Red packet amounts: the written rules and the notes you can get
A red packet goes by many names — angbao (sometimes angpow) in Hokkien, lai see in Cantonese (lishi in Mandarin), yasuiqian. The Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre’s Culturepaedia records it being given at Chinese New Year, weddings and birthdays.
The rules this tool applies
That entry sets out four customs about the money: the value should be an even amount, because good things come in pairs; it should not have a four in it, because four sounds like the word for death; eight is often used because it sounds like prosperity; and nine, though odd, is accepted because it sounds like longevity. The tool applies exactly those. It drops any amount with a 4 in any position, and keeps odd amounts only when they end in 9. The entry gives no different rule for weddings or birthdays, so the tool has no occasion setting — and we found no authoritative source that publishes a correct amount for any relationship, so the tool does not suggest one.
Why the currency matters
Each currency’s notes come from its issuer. Singapore’s Portrait Series has $2, $5, $10, $50, $100, $1,000 and $10,000 notes and no $20; the Monetary Authority of Singapore stopped issuing the $1,000 from 1 January 2021 and the $10,000 from 1 October 2014, though both remain legal tender (the tool leaves the $10,000 out). Hong Kong’s everyday notes start at $10 and Taiwan’s regular notes at NT$100, so HK$88 cannot be made from notes. Malaysia issues RM1 to RM100 notes, and the People’s Bank of China ¥1 to ¥100 notes.
The rules differ by place
The rules above come from a Singapore institution. Taiwanese media also discuss the first digit of an amount, and Hong Kong and Taiwan rate tables quote amounts in tens and hundreds; we found no primary source for either, so the tool does not model them.
What central banks and Culturepaedia record about red packets
Who gives: Culturepaedia says there is no hard and fast rule on when to start — a first pay cheque or the first year of marriage are typical milestones, and newlyweds in their first year are often excused. Typically married people give to children and elders at Chinese New Year, and some adults with a stable income also give to their parents and grandparents.
The same entry says notes should ideally be fresh from the press, clean and unwrinkled — and that the local Chinese community generally prefers traditional red packets to digital ones.
MAS (19 January 2026): over 16 million Fit notes — used notes of the quality ATMs dispense — were exchanged at banks for Lunar New Year 2025, about 40% more than the year before.
The same release: in a July 2025 survey of 1,853 Chinese Singaporeans and permanent residents aged 15 and above, 2 in 3 were open to receiving Fit notes in their hong baos.
MAS’s Lunar New Year 2026 annex: in 2026 the pop-up and selected ATMs at DBS, OCBC and UOB gave out $2, $10 and $50 notes, and those at Citibank and Standard Chartered $10 and $50; branch pre-booking opened on 27 January and collection on 3 February, two weeks before the 17 February new year. $2, $10 and $50 make S$88 but not S$99 — the tool marks which.
Why Singapore has a $2 note: MAS says that with the Ship Series the previous $20 note was discontinued and a new $2 note introduced. The Portrait Series in use since 1999 has no $20.
HKMA (13 January 2026): the three note-issuing banks exchanged new and good-as-new notes from 3 to 16 February, and the HKMA encouraged electronic lai see through the Faster Payment System. On 12 February it warned of fraudulent e-lai-see carrying phishing QR codes or links.
Taiwan’s central bank (27 January 2026): new notes were exchanged from 9 to 13 February at 455 designated branches, with NT$100 notes limited to 100 per person, and the bank encouraged people to use notes still fit for circulation instead of new ones.
Malaysia: by our calculation from Bank Negara Malaysia’s currency-in-circulation series, the value of RM10 notes in circulation rose from end-December to end-January in every one of the 16 years 2011–2026, by a median of 15.6%. These are month-end stocks, and January also carries year-end effects that cannot be separated from the new year.
The Hong Kong Observatory puts Lunar New Year 2027 on Saturday 6 February, with the start of spring two days earlier on 4 February. As of 1 October 2026 no central bank had announced its 2027 note-exchange dates.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Not in this tool. Culturepaedia records the same number customs for New Year, weddings and birthdays, and we found no primary source that sets amounts by occasion. An earlier version of this page had an occasion menu that did not change the result; it has been removed.
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Culturepaedia says the amount should not have a four in it — anywhere, not only at the end — and the tool drops every such amount. Whether to follow the custom is your call.
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The custom is an even amount, but nine is accepted despite being odd because it sounds like longevity. So the tool keeps odd amounts only when they end in 9.
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The HKMA lists the notes in everyday circulation as $10, $20, $50, $100, $500 and $1,000, so HK$88 is HK$80 in notes plus HK$8 in coins. Untick “notes only” to see amounts like that.
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Not in the Portrait Series in circulation now. S$20 takes two $10 notes, and that is how the tool counts it.
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MAS and the HKMA both encourage e-hongbao. WeChat’s ordinary red packet is capped at ¥200 per packet, raised to ¥520 on 14 February, Qixi and 20 May, according to WeChat Pay as reported by Southern Metropolis Daily in February 2026. The tool does not check e-wallet limits.
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Lunar New Year 2027 is on 6 February; as of 1 October 2026 no dates had been announced. In 2026 Singapore and Hong Kong both opened booking on 27 January and exchange on 3 February.
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No central bank or cultural body we found publishes a correct amount, and the tool does not suggest one; the rate tables online cite no source for theirs. The budget is yours — the tool only applies the number customs and the notes.
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Use the Chinese Lucky Number Checker, which reads a number digit by digit.
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No. Everything is worked out in your browser.
Where the rules and note lists come from
- Culturepaedia, Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre — “Red packets (Hongbao)”, Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, updated 16 Dec 2025
- Monetary Authority of Singapore — circulation currency notes
- MAS — “Choose Fit Notes or E-Hong Baos for a Greener Lunar New Year”, 19 Jan 2026
- MAS — annex: notes exchange at banks for Lunar New Year 2026 (PDF)
- Hong Kong Monetary Authority — Hong Kong currency notes
- HKMA via info.gov.hk — lai-see notes exchange, 13 Jan 2026
- HKMA via info.gov.hk — fraudulent e-lai-see warning, 12 Feb 2026
- Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) — current banknotes
- CBC press release 015 — new-note exchange, 27 Jan 2026
- Bank Negara Malaysia — banknotes
- BNM via data.gov.my — currency in circulation by denomination
- People’s Bank of China — 2020 fifth-series ¥5 note Q&A (lists the ¥100, ¥50, ¥20, ¥10 and ¥1 issues)
- Hong Kong Observatory — Gregorian-Lunar conversion table 2027
- Tencent News — Southern Metropolis Daily on WeChat red-packet limits, Feb 2026
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