Lawrence Wong May Be Giving S$3K Ang Pows To Each Of His Staff For CNY As He “Earned A Little More” This Year

Chinese New Year is just around the corner (reminder that we’re already more than halfway through January 2022), so for the latest episode of #JustSwipeLah, host Juin Teh sat down with Reunion Dinner stars Lawrence Wong, Xiang Yun, and Das Dharamahsena for a CNY-themed chat over their own mini hotpot meals.

Naturally, one of the topics that was brought up was ang pows, which are “very important things to prepare”, at least according to Xiang Yun.

When asked how she decides how much to give away every year, the veteran actress, 60, said that she usually sets aside S$5, S$10, or S$20 for each person, just as “a token”.

“I heard from my friend in China that they give red packets with the equivalent of S$50 inside,” she shared, before asking Lawrence, who’s been dividing his time between Singapore and China since skyrocketing to Yanxi Palace fame, if that’s the case for him when he’s over there.

And his answer left everyone shook

“The most I’ve given is… so for example, this year I might have earned a little more, so maybe each person will get $3,000?” the 33-year-old said, referring to his (very lucky) staff.

But hold on a sec — that’s in renminbi, which would be about S$640, right?

“What currency is that?” Juin asked, to which Lawrence replied: “Singapore Dollars.”

At that moment, we’re sure everyone had the exact same thought as Das, who immediately piped up: “Lawrence, I want to work for you, can or not?”



It’s not clear how many staff Lawrence has but he’s obviously raking in big bucks

Lawrence went on to explain that the amount he gives out depends on how much he made that year, so we guess it’s basically like a company giving out bonuses to their workers (still, imagine getting a four-figure ang pow from your boss).

Xiang Yun then brought up a good point: “When you earn more, it means that everyone worked hard alongside you.”

We guess Lawrence can now join this list of very generous celebs.



Where do we sign up to work for Lawrence?

The four of them also discussed a not-so-fun part of CNY visitations: Getting bombarded with questions from kaypoh relatives.

Aside from the usual inquiries like “Do you have a girlfriend/boyfriend?” and “When are you getting married?”, artistes apparently also get asked things like “Haven’t you filmed any shows lately?” and “Why haven’t I seen you on TV?”.

“I’m the one asking those questions,” quipped Xiang Yun, as the others roared with laughter.

Das shared that while those who celebrate Deepavali don’t have reunion dinners, they also do home visitations, which has obviously been more difficult to do during the pandemic.

“I’m actually glad ‘cos they will ask a lot of questions,” he deadpanned.

While the former Night Owl Cinematics artiste, who speaks fluent Mandarin, said that he is fine with answering most questions as he would also “joke around with them”, he’s understandably not fond of discussing anything to do with money as he thinks it’s “sensitive”.



Das said he gets extra ang pows during CNY home visits by impressing aunties with his Mandarin

Lawrence, on the other hand, said that instead of being interrogated by his relatives, everyone usually just wants to take pictures with him (probably to prove to everyone that they have a bona fide superstar in their family).

“But I work almost every day, and the CNY period is one of the rare times when I get to rest at home so I tend to dress sloppily,” he said. “Still, they are my relatives, so I have to accommodate their requests.”

Photos: #JustSwipeLah screenshots, Lawrence Wong/Instagram, Das Dharamahsena/Instagram