Here in Singapore, the nation celebrates key religious festivals by way of a public holiday! AND the whole country seems to get behind them and understand what is being celebrated and why! Brilliant!
Here is a snapshot of the public holidays for next year!
| New Year's Day | Saturday 1 January |
| Chinese New Year (Buddhist) | Thursday 3 February Friday 4 February |
| Good Friday (Christian) | Friday 22 April |
| Labour Day | Sunday 1 May |
| Vesak Day (Buddhist) | Tuesday 17 May |
| National Day | Tuesday 9 August |
| Hari Raya Puasa (Muslim) | Tuesday 30 August |
| Deepavali (Hindu) | Wednesday 26 October |
| Hari Raya Haji (Muslim) | Sunday 6 November |
| Christmas Day (Christian) | Sunday 25 December |
We recently celebrated Diwali (or Deepavali) - the festival of lights. For Hindus, like my husband and his family, Diwali is the most important festival of the year. When asked, they often refer to this day as their equivalent to New Year.
This year, after completing prayers at home, I headed into Little India to join the street celebrations!
What an atmosphere! I am not exagerating when I say thousands flocked to the area, some shopping for groceries and fresh flower garlands for the gods, others decorating themselves with traditional mehndi, dining out or enjoying a picnic with friends & colleagues.
Though it appeared that most were there to lap up the monumental once a year sales!
Oh yes, DVD's, CD's, clothing, shoes, carpets, electronics... you name it, it was on sale, and we're talking BIG discounts!
I was told by some locals, for the best deals, to head to the EXPO located opposite the famous 24/hr Mustafa shopping centre. They instructed me to go AFTER 2am for the best bargains. (Yes.. 2am. The EXPO essentially remains open until everything is sold, which is usually around 5am... ) I couldn't last that long, but did go at 11.45pm and left at 1.30am... talk about crazy! I can see how the best bargains are toward the end. Even at that hour (after about 1.00am) some stalls began auctioning off $120 outfits to the highest bidder (for around $15!) - brilliant!
The EXPO kind of reminded me of Paddy's markets in Sydney, just with 10 times the amount of people, 1/4 of the space and 5 times the heat! Boy was it hot. As you looked around, there wasn't a dry back in the house! Sweat was literally pouring off everyone, though that didn't seem to stop the intensity of the shopping!
Like I said.... Crazy!
I ended up scoring 5 Indian outfits, a much needed bottle of 7UP (it was all they had!) and a CD, all for under $70!
It was such a fabulous experience - can't wait for next year!
Until then, I look forward to celebrating all the other religious festivals with the Singaporeans!
Five outfits for under $70!? Wow I missed out!
ReplyDelete