Even when people ask for specific gifts (think wedding registries... baby shower gift lists...) I still just gift them cash/Venmo with a personal message, usually double or triple whatever the gift ideas recommended. I do not care about the cultural strings attached, because if I was in the situation of asking for gifts- usually caused by a taboo of directly asking for money- I would be thankful for the cash.

I see commenters here on HN talking about how 'thoughtful' a gift card is... no, a gift card is selfishly deciding how someone else should spend money that was supposed to be a gift.