'I just came to try my luck': Long queues at banks for new CNY notes with some turning up as early as 5am

These people may have wanted to start their new year off - not with a bang, but by queuing at a bank. 

Looking to get lucky with fresh crisp bank notes for Chinese New Year, some hopeful members of the public got in line outside banks as early as 5am on Wednesday morning (Jan 24), according to Shin Min Daily News.

This rush to get notes has even left some banks dry on new notes 20 minutes prior to official opening hours, Shin Min reported.

At the UOB branch in Bendemeer this morning, AsiaOne saw some bank staff trying to keep the 20-odd members of the public waiting outside the outlet in order. This was just before 9am. 

And over at Toa Payoh's DBS branch, some seven staff members were seen speaking with their elderly customers and keeping people orderly just before 8am today (Jan 24), Shin Min reported.

Some staff also distributed queue slips to those in line, assigning time slots for them to return to the bank so that they can avoid standing in queue.

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By 8.10am, however, some branches had already run out of new bank notes even though the bank notes exchange service starts at 8.30am. 

Gardener Zhang Jitang (transliteration), 68, told Shin Min he had taken his morning off from work to exchange for new bank notes.

When he arrived at Toa Payoh's DBS branch at 8.10am, he found out that there were no more notes to collect.

"It doesn't matter if I can't get the new notes, I'll just change my current ones out," he said, adding that he changed $800 worth of notes. "Anyway, I just came to try my luck."

'I want to be lucky'

Housewife Su Huijiao (transliteration) told Shin Min that she had arrived at about 5.30am and was the fourth in line.

"I come here every year to collect new bank notes and I'll even take multiple round trips," the 73-year-old said. "Even though I still have some new notes left over from last year, I want to change them.

"After all, I want to be lucky this new year."

Snaking queues also formed at other banks in Toa Payoh, Shin Min reported.

Over at an UOB outlet, there were about 60 people spotted waiting in line before the bank's opening hours at 10.30am. 

OCBC, which opened slightly later at 11am, had 40 people queuing to exchange bank notes. Staff were also deployed to provide chairs for the elderly outside some banks.

Go green, not get green

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) released a statement on Jan 15 urging people to choose fit-for-gifting notes for Chinese New Year instead of getting new notes from banks.

This is because fit-for-gifting notes are the more sustainable option while new notes "generate unnecessary carbon emissions".

According to the MAS, around 100 million new notes are issued annually for festive gifting, but most are only used once before being returned to the Authority.

"The number of returned notes far exceeds replacement needs and the excess are destroyed before the end of their useful life," the statement reads.

Aside from fit-for-gifting notes, the MAS also recommends members of the public to send e-hong baos that have been enhanced with new features and designs.

In January last year, queues formed at pop-up ATMs in Hougang due to queues for new bank notes.

By 10am, 60 people were in queue for new notes, while 14 were in line for fit-for-gifting notes.

"It has always been a tradition to give new notes to people during Chinese New Year," Jenny Tan, a housewife, told The Straits Times then. "It will be strange to give people old or used notes." 

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khooyihang@asiaone.com