Chinese New Year is the biggest festive holiday in Singapore. The first and second day of the lunar new year are public holidays. This coming new year, they fall on the 29th and 30th of January.
“Spring in Singapore doesn’t arrive with cherry blossoms of melting snow; it barges in, with Lunar New Year tunes looping relentlessly in malls and Chinatown ablaze with crimson lanterns and paper cuttings. Mandarin oranges pile high in markets and homes, while the air thickens with the smoky sweetness of ‘bak kwa’ (barbecued pork slices) and buttery aroma of pineapple tarts.” – From one of the signboards at the flower display.
I smiled when I saw the above passage. This humorous description is more or less what the days before the Lunar New Year is like. Malls and markets all over the island will be selling Chinese New Year cookies and decorative stuff. However, Chinatown is the place to go for anything that is Chinese New Year related.
The Chinese New Year market was set up three weeks before the Chinese New Year. As the day draws near, Chinatown gets progressively busy, culminating until the busiest day of the year in Chinatown – the Eve of the Chinese New Year. On this day, Chinese New Year cookies sell for half the price, some even a third of the price. Stall owners hope to clear all their stock because they won’t be selling them after the new year. There will be stage performances in Chinatown to usher in the New Year. This year, they will be ushering in the year of the Snake.
I was down in Chinatown last Monday to see what the crowd was like and if there is anything of interest. It was busy but not too bad. The stalls sell more or the same things as in previous years. There was nothing exceptional nor worthy of note. I had a quick tour of the place and snapped a few pictures.
Some of the Chinese New Year decorations in Chinatown.
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