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Good-as-new banknotes equally good for lai-see money The tradition of using brand new banknotes
for lai-see uses a lot of resources and is bad for the environment. It is common knowledge that large numbers of brand new banknotes are issued before every Chinese New Year because people like to use them as lai-see money. Last year, the three note-issuing banks in Hong Kong issued an additional 300 million brand new, mostly ten-dollar and twenty-dollar, banknotes with an aggregate face value of more than HK$24 billion. The tradition of using brand new notes to symbolise a new beginning has a long history. But when you receive these brand new lai-see banknotes, do you ever think about the resources and logistics that go into providing them? Three hundred million banknotes weigh 300 metric tonnes, occupy 500 cubic metres of storage space, and could fill 20 twenty-foot containers. The three note-issuing banks need to arrange 500 trips with security escort to transport these brand new banknotes. Last but not the least, it takes 400 metric tonnes of cotton to make the special paper needed to print 300 million banknotes. Over the past 10 years, the numbers of Hong Kong banknotes in circulation have increased from HK$78 billion to HK$149 billion, or from 836 million to 1,086 million individual notes. This ever-increasing demand for banknotes is no doubt due to general economic growth and circulation of Hong Kong banknotes on the Mainland. But the annual, one-off lai-see-related demand also plays a significant role. To meet it Hong Kong Note Printing Limited has been trying to catch up by producing 300 to 400 million banknotes every year. It is not difficult to see that using brand new banknotes as lai-see money consumes a great deal of resources. This is inconsistent with the popular trend towards conservation. So, this year, the note-issuing banks are offering an additional choice to their customers: good-as-new notes, which have been circulated already but are in very good condition. The banks will encourage their customers to accept these good-as-new notes, instead of the brand new ones, for use as lai-see money. Thanks to the use of sophisticated note-sorting machines, the note-issuing banks are able to sort out dirty and torn banknotes that they receive back from circulation every day. Only banknotes that are reasonably clean and in good condition are released back into circulation. I am pleased to say that Hong Kong banknotes are among the cleanest in the world. Indeed, when we introduced the new ten-dollar note in 2002, we incorporated some advanced technology to lengthen the life span of this low-denomination note. You may have noticed that a special protective coating is applied to the new ten-dollar notes. This coating makes the note more resistant to grease and dirt. We have found that the condition of most of the circulated ten-dollar notes is very good, often almost comparable to brand new notes. These good-as-new notes are perfectly suitable for use as lai-see money. For the sake of environmental protection, I hope that we can gradually change our habit of using only brand new notes for lai-see, and use the good-as-new notes instead. We understand that it is difficult to change the tradition overnight and we have asked the note-issuing banks to be prepared to provide enough good-as-new notes as well as brand new notes to their customers as far as possible. Whether to opt for the good-as-new notes should still be a customer’s choice. But in the long run, future generations will thank us if we can help protect the environment by using fewer brand new banknotes. I strongly believe the idea of using good-as-new notes as lai-see money is one we should all pursue.
Joseph Yam 5 January 2006
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