![]() ![]() This five-storey high Monkey God 18 was the main attraction for the celebration of the Year of the Monkey. The River Hong Bao is a week-long extravaganza 16 held every Chinese New Year along the Singapore River since 1987 17. Many believe that the first person to offer their incense will receive bountiful blessings during that year. ![]() The Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple is packed with devotees every Chinese New Year’s Eve offering their prayers. This goes on for two weeks, punctuated by steamboat dinners, yusheng ceremony (raw fish salad tossing) 14, and even more gatherings with friends and relatives. The following morning, everyone puts on new clothes to welcome new beginnings, and visit their relatives to exchange blessings 13, never once taking a break from the mouth-watering pineapple tarts, and other festival snacks. 11 After the meal, many families would gather around the TV to watch the countdown performance broadcasted from Chinatown. On New Year’s Eve, every Chinese, no matter which corner of the world they might be in, would return home to their family for a reunion dinner. Celebrated on the first day of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, the entire fiesta lasts 15 days. Lunar New Year is the most anticipated festival among the local Chinese community. Entire streets decorated in splashes of red and gold, massive light displays 8, long queues outside popular bakwa (barbecued pork) stalls 9, and street vendors loudly touting traditional goodies and introducing the latest flavours. Squeezing through the crowds at the Chinatown night market 7 in the month leading up to Lunar New Year is perhaps an experience every Singaporean Chinese gladly shares. Usually in: January or February, place of origin: China 6 The Pongal bazaar is a feast of the senses and perfect for immersing yourself in the festival atmosphere. The Pongal bazaar at Campbell Lane 4 is where local Indians can find their favourite goodies and buy offerings such as the Indian sugar cane, ginger and turmeric plants, and devotional milk pots 5. Cooked rice is traditionally offered to the deities to thank them for a bountiful harvest 3. Usually in: January, place of origin: IndiaĪ beautiful festival of offering thanks to nature, Pongal is traditionally a harvest festival originating from South India celebrated in the beginning of Thai, the tenth Tamil month. Let’s begin our festival journey with the first celebration of the year. With the freedom to practise their faiths freely, our immigrants also brought with them the festivals celebrated by the Muslims, Hindus, and the Chinese – festivals that have grown to become the vibrant spectacles of modern Singapore. Telok Ayer Street is today the street with the most number of national monuments in Singapore. Temples, mosques, churches, and shrines were established for the immigrants to give thanks to their gods 2 for providing them safe passage, and to ask for blessings in the new chapter of their lives. Immigrants from China, India, and the Malay Archipelago, among others, flocked here to seek greater fortunes.Īfter long, treacherous journeys by sea, many of our forefathers built places of worship along the coast at Telok Ayer Street. ![]() Vessels from all over the world stopped here to resupply or trade. Singapore’s special position on the world map naturally put it in the middle of many trade routes. To truly understand how Singapore became such a melting pot of cultures, we have to go back two centuries to when the country was first established as a bustling trading hub of the region. ![]()
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