It’s a basic need of humans to fence off some private shelter for themselves and their loved ones.  And that need is probably even bigger for those “in-love”-ones. Just imagine the dream of two newly wed turtledoves. They circled around each other for a number of years, they cooed at first sight, held wings in the sunset, looked each other in the eyes in the shimmering candle light, and finally recognised a mutual urge to build their own nest and spend the rest of their lives together.  So then, with cold feet, the male dove finally pops the long-awaited question…“Shall we buy an HDB flat together”?  Don’t frown your eyebrows. Someone told me that this is the all-time number one way in Singapore for a guy to propose to his girlfriend.  No doubt Juliette would have turned her back away from Romeo should he ever have come up with this Singlish equivalent of “Will you marry me”?  And it’s highly unlikely that Romeo could have resolved the awkward situation by giving it a witty twist: “My dear Juliette, it’s a misunderstanding. Don’t you know that “HDB” stands for a flat where “Happy Days Beckon”?” 

Unfortunately, in these modern days the word “romance” is all too often written in digital letters in stead of in calligraphy.  Love is abbreviated, condensed into ugly acronyms, coded into text messages in stead of patiently and devotedly written down with blue ink on a white sheet of paper. But this is not Verona and we are in 2011 after all.  A newly wed couple doesn’t long for a balcony, for who wants to sing a serenade under the moonlight if you can go and sing karaoke in an air-conditioned room? All that honeymooners want is an apartment to call it their home, which they can stuff with objects of past memories and where they can create new moments together. HDB: “Happy, Don’t Bother”. Young couples don’t want to end up on a waitlist whatsoever, for they are rushing into marriage life with the eagerness of a playful puppy that’s being walked by his master for the very first time.  At the beginning of their career, many newly weds can use some financial help also, to make their concrete dream become concrete. Whatever money they save can be used for other purposes. The decoration of a baby room, for instance. Any policy maker who endeavours to make public housing cheaper, would be delighted to kill two birds with one stone. Ensuring that couples have their own cozy little bird nest would simultaneously address that other pressing issue of Singapore’s dramatically low birth rate. After all, a sense of privacy is a pre-requisite for unhampered intimacy. Or as our romantic yet naughty friend Romeo would put it: “Horny Days Beckon”…

A Belgian expat in Singapore, expressing his love for words, travel and yoga into his posts, each carrying a music song name as title. The blog contains columns, philosophic considerations, poetry, and many travel pictures A Belgian expat in Singapore, expressing his love for words, travel and yoga into his posts, each carrying a music song name as title. The blog contains columns, philosophic considerations, poetry, and many travel pictures. He blogs at http://chasing-thoth.blogspot.com

Some have told me that as a westerner I wouldn’t understand, because in Asia people are just much more conservative and not ready for such controversial images being displayed in public.

Personally, I just don’t buy that at all! You see, in Australia for example, billboards that might be ‘on the edge’ of acceptable tend to create just as much hype in the media – although it’s usually one small pocket of society that are the most vocal.

Last year, I wrote an article about the Most Controversial Ads Down Under in 2009 and posed the question – are Aussies becoming too prudish? In this instance, the most complained about ad in 2009 was a billboard advertisement for “GASP denim” – referred to as ‘Case number 450/09 – (Billboard – displayed only in Victoria) Images of topless females dressed in jeans’. The issue raised was “Discrimination or vilification, Section 2.1 AANA Code of Ethics”. The Australian Advertising Standards Bureau decision was to dismiss the case. Interestingly enough, this ‘most controversial’ ad received a total of only around 250 complaints.

Again in 2010, the focus is on Billboard advertising and this time around,
a parliamentary committee acknowledged that “billboards and the like are a unique form of advertising, particularly given they can’t be ignored, or switched off”. The committee has recommended a number of changes for the industry focussing on inappropriate language or images that sexually objectify women.

In the Abercrombie & Fitch case in Orchard Rd, perhaps now we are getting somewhere close to the true reason behind the furore. It definitely cannot be the images being displayed publically that is the sole problem – all one needs to do, is walk through any of the major retail or brand malls in Singapore and you will face a barrage of near naked women advertising all kinds of fashion (and even food)… and showing much, much more skin than the billboard in question. These kind of images can also be seen in the heartlands shopping centres.

So, if people are worried about one, why not the other – if the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) say the ad “breaches the advertising code of decency” and have called for its suspension, why not also suspend every single image of men and women not fully clothed in every retail outlet across the island?

Clearly, it must be the sheer size of the billboard – I think it’s 4-stories high right? Like the Aussie parliamentary committee suggested – something so large in the heart of downtown is quite a unique way of advertising and ‘cannot be switched off’.

For the American retail giant, A&F must be laughing all the way to the bank – back in 2000, shoe maker Windsor Smith got in trouble for a very racy billboard showing a lingerie-clad sexy blonde woman sitting with her head suggestively close to a man’s ‘nether regions’ – later, Windsor Smith admitted that the storm of controversy that followed was the best advertising the company could have ever hoped for and was worth an estimated $4 million!!

So what do you think?

Is the billboard relatively that bad – compared to the much more explicit images in retail stores across the country? Or is it as bad as the workers walking the street in Geylang? Hmmm… I wonder.

Let’s face it – SEX SELLS! – Companies like Kelvin Klein and Durex have been doing this for years.

On an aside, it’s not just the fashion brands that get themsleves into hot water when it comes to billboard advertising. One of the biggest issues is often the ‘subliminal’ messages. For example check out this ad with a picture of knees and toes:

Fast food outlets are not immune, as can be seen by this McDonalds advert.

But quite frankly, I would much rather have my attention distracted while driving by looking at billboard superstar, Jessica Gomes (below) who is of mixed race, born to a Singaporean mother and a Portuguese father, then have to be exposed to Burger King’s ‘Beefcake’ Piers Morgan – Eeeewwww… I think I’d defintely smash the car and I would be suing someone for such an inappropriate image that I “cannot switch” off – actually, I doubt that I would ever again be able to remove the image from my brain.

http://www.aussiepete.com/2011/10/billboards-cant-be-switched-off-but.html

2011 has been a year that have seen the establishment of several milestones that points to a sea change enveloping across our tiny island nation. We saw political evolution at work in both the General Elections, as well as the Presidential Elections. It was clear that Singaporeans want alternatives, and are no longer prepared to unquestioningly adhere to the ‘the government knows best’ brand of governance.

However, change also holds true for me on a personal level; I have come full circle, having left Singapore four years ago to pursue my studies overseas. I was half expecting to resume life in Singapore as it was after this brief hiatus, how wrong was I to delve into such pre-suppositions. Things have been far from the same. 

In the after dinner table talks with friends, where conversations of the past used to be about the latest celebrity scandal or the most trivial occurrences amongst our network of friends and acquaintances, the topics have evolved. Topics now ranged from the European debt crisis and the looming double tip recession, to the abolishment of the ISA in Malaysia and what it connotes for us in Singapore. Granted that my circle of friends have went from gullible pre collegiate teens to full fledged working adults, but there was no mistaking the change in tone and vigor of conviction amongst my peers. They believe they have a right to be heard and they will be heard.

So when the story broke on the Social Media about the abrupt cancellation of the award winning “Halloween Nights” by fiat, issued from the top level management of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) and how a team of Singapore Polytechnic (SP) students who were organizing the event for their final year project were left in a lurch, the Social Media Generation went up in arms.

Within hours, the Facebook page of The Online Citizen, a popular Socio-Political blog that posted a link on the cancellation garnered over two hundred comments. The story had begun to take a life of it’s own – with most comments disparaging the managements decision to cancel the event. Some alleged that there was a Christian Fundamentalist hand in the decision, quoting a supposed quote made by a WRS senior management staff to the SP team lambasting Halloween as “devil worship”, and that “we can be creative and turn the bad for good”. Then there was the issue of Isabella Loh, CEO of WRS quoting newly elected President Tony Tan that there should be more “family bonding and wholesome activities” in justifying the cancellation. These comments by Ms. Loh were interpreted by many netizens as suggesting that the decision to cancel Halloween Horrors were influenced by the President’s comments.

Without sounding too much like an apologetic for the management (which I am not), I think both suggestions are a little short on substance. The comment on “devil worship” was alleged by a third party as being made by a senior management staff, but his or her Manichean view of the world do not necessarily represent the views of the management of WRS as a whole. Moreover, President Tony Tan’s comments encouraging more “family centered events” was made in the context of Moon Nights, it is spurious to suggest that it was his comments which directly influenced Miss Loh and the top level management of WRS to scrap Halloween Horrors in its entirety. That said, these comments were symptomatic of individuals imprinting and weaving their personal perceptions into a collective discourse that puts to task the perpetrators of a perceived injustice.

In addition, the press release made by the WRS Management was made without appreciating the temper of our times in where people demanded accountability and flinch at the failure of reason. In substantiating the management’s supposed justification to cancel the event, she cited the reservations from the “Friends of the Zoo and Corporate Partners”. In response to such a justification, an online posting on WRS Facebook page by a user only known as Selamat commented, “this is an outright lie! Show us the negative feedback!” In another posting related to Miss Loh’s claim that she was trying to steer the Night Safari to “have relevance in relation to conversation”, a user only known only as Elna commented “come on, it’s not as if profits earned from the event can’t go into conservation”.

As such, WRS’s press statement instead of emphatically justifying the cancellation of Halloween Horrors has raised more questions than answers. It does not tell us with any good reason why the event was cancelled after more than $1 million was spend, and over a thousand tickets sold.  Why, as many netizens reasoned, can’t the event go ahead this year since it was just three weeks away from the event itself? One could always place the event up for review thereafter where any cancellation even on grounds that were offered by WRS would have been more palatable – given that it does not entail the huge wastage in resources, and the efforts put in by the Singapore Polytechnic students would not have come to naught. As such, the failure of reasoning that lead to the cancellation of the event is further exacerbated by a failure in communicating the management’s decision. 

Moreover, the WRS Statements offered little solace to the students effected by the cancellation, no backup plan was offered to host the event in an alternative location, nothing but an apology to the students for the abrupt cancellation, and a subsequent assurance that the WRS Management will be meeting with the students. (like who cares!) The only grain of solace came from Member of Parliament, Baey Yam Keng (who is btw unaffiliated with WRS) to host Horror Nights at his Tampines ward instead, a move that was subsequently rejected by Singapore Polytechnic administration. 

In my opinion, while the failure in communicating their corporate message is an issue which WRS has to work out on it’s own, what to me is unacceptable is the treatment of the students and the impact it will have in shaping their perceptions towards the society they live in. Is it a perception that we live in a society where creativity and hardwork can be arbitrarily dislodged by corporate fiat, in favor of ‘corporate interests’? Thankfully, many Singaporeans have rallied around these students, and many feel a common sense of ‘disgust’ towards the student’s predicament. In this, the online community has communicated to all self perceive head honchos out there that they will be a communal outcry every time there is an issue that tramples upon their interests and sensibilities.  They have a right to be heard, and they will be heard!

If anything, WRS has made a badly timed top-down decision that defies the bounds of logical reasoning. Moreover, it failed to anticipate the huge backlash it will encounter from a discerning public that has been rendered savvier with the availability of the Social Media. It has also failed to align it’s corporate communications with the temper of the times, where the public demands clarity and full disclosure behind management decisions, and will react adversely to spurious justifications and excuses. I believe the series of Corporate Communications released by WRS should be entombed in every Introductory Corporate Comms Textbook as a case in point on how sub standard communiqués result in very bad consequences.

In countries with a colder climate, passengers are requested to take off their jacket for security screening. In hot and humid Indonesia, they don’t need to ask that, since people seldom wear one. Orchards don’t have fence here, to put it with a plastic comparison. No wonder that the security officer can’t keep his eyes off her chest, where some overripe fruits scream for help, desperate for fresh air in their all too tight wrapping. Do some girls really think that they do nature a favour by using less fabric than what they actually need to cover up properly? And what’s his scrutiny for? Does he suspect that she’s smuggling silicone bags out of the country? He seems puzzled. Does he need to call the squat team to detonate these bombs? The only potentially hazardous items she’s carrying are clearly visible, but until further notice they are not on the list of items that are prohibited on board. And where to hide any other lethal item in this skimpy, flashy-pink dress of hers? The long heels of her shoes in even colour clearly do not help him to focus.

She walks through the metal detector. This must be his lucky day: the buzzer goes off. His female and male colleague who are monitoring the screen of the X-ray machine giggle like teenagers, and you don’t need to understand a single word of Bahasa to understand why all of a sudden they become so excited. In many airports, you have a male security officer to perform a body search on the male passengers and a female security officer to search the female passengers. But this country is known to be a very liberal society where they don’t bother so much about this kind of petty privacy considerations. Female emancipation and gender equality are no hollow words here: female passengers are treated in exactly the same manner like men…So the male officer starts doing what he’s supposed to do: he moves around her; touches her; he sniffles like a dog while wagging his security stick eagerly all over her body. Front and back, and vice-versa. Yet all good things come to an end. He has no choice but to tell her she can go in. She walks further, and he glances at his colleagues with a smile that tells it all.

Then it’s my turn. “Do you have any laptop?” Is this a trick question? Unlike my predecessor, I don’t have any impressive top. But he’s not going to stare at my lap, is he? I take my laptop out of my bag, put it through the X-ray machine and walk through the gate of the metal detector. This must be my unlucky day: the buzzer goes off. But no drooling on his part this time. He’s searching my body in a very efficient and definitely faster manner than the way he did with the previous passenger. And I can be mistaken, but I sincerely have the impression that my search is far less thorough also…

A Belgian expat in Singapore, expressing his love for words, travel and yoga into his posts, each carrying a music song name as title. The blog contains columns, philosophic considerations, poetry, and many travel pictures.

Lavish offerings such as a $2500 haircut offered at Kim Robinsons Hair Salon and of course the proverbial $1200 steam fish served at the Resorts World Sentosa  graced the Singapore newspapers last year . However, are such concerns of hyper-materialism being a dominant feature of our cultural mindset or simply alarmist?

Indeed, it can be argued that such exorbitant prices are charged because there are people out there who are willing to pay such ridiculous amounts for services available for a fraction of the price quoted. However, it is highly unlikely that this constituency represents Singaporeans in general.

Rather, most Singaporeans hold dear the ideas of equity and fairness. If they agreed with merchants being allowed to place exorbitant charges on their services, they do so with the acknowledgment that the former act is within the merchant’s right, and that one is free to purchase a service at any amount one sees fit. This is in line with an open economy that has been the hallmark of Singapore’s economical success over the years.

This brings us back to our one-off trip to Las Vegas and that pricey dinner at the Eiffel Tower. I must concede that the utility derived from the trip are influenced by popular material culture which has attached status symbols towards those major icons I held in awe. However, these indulgences are often tempered with the reality that one has to balance their books, and the traditional timed held notion that one has to live within one’s means.

Gerald Sim is a Masters student at the University of British Columbia.

To be fair, not only many career women in Singapore are still single. It is the same with any other modern cities around the world e.g. Hong Kong, New York, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai etc. The thing is… more and more singles are delaying marriage. In the past, women marry in their early 20s. If you were to marry in your mid-20s, it is considered old. But now, many women are still not married by the time they are in their 30s. A lot of times, it is because these women are so focused on building their career in the early part of their life. And when they finally decide to settle down, they learn that it is not as easy to find a partner in their 30s as opposed to when they are in their 20s. One of the realities that I have shared in my book ‘Lessons From 15,000 First Dates’ is that ultimately many men are looking to date younger women as they would like to start a family eventually. So they would start to think, if I date a woman who is in her mid-30s, after 2 years of dating, 2 years of honeymoon period after the marriage, would it be too late to start a family?

Single ladies can be generally categorised into 4 groups. Of course these are generalisations and stereotypes and they are not exhaustive.

1. The Dragon Lady: Dragon ladies are women who have done very well for themselves in the workplace. And as the skillset of women such as communication skills, interpersonal skills, multitasking skills are being more sought after in the workplace, more and more women are rising fast in the corporate world, sometimes even faster than their male counterparts. Women often feel that they have to adopt a more domineering and aggressive demeanour to climb up the corporate ladder. And often, they bring these characteristics with them wherever they go even when they are on dates. However, I always say to my single female clients, ‘Men are looking to date and marry women, not men!’ Women need to realise that they are on a date and not a debate. They do not need to challenge every single thing the guy say, or have the last say all the time. My advice to the dragon ladies is to indulge in your femininity and leave the fist-thumping in the boardroom.

2. The Waiter a.k.a. The Fixer: These are ladies who might be seeing someone, but they have been in the same relationship for 3 years, 5 years, or 9 years but the relationship just does not seem to be going anywhere. The reason is, the man keeps telling the woman that he’s not ready to settle down, and the woman is willing to just sit by and wait, hence the name ‘waiter’. And some of them are also fixers meaning they believe they can fix the guy, even though women who preceded them have failed. They believe that they are unique and special. My advice to this group of ladies is to give the guy an ultimatum. Give him a deadline, and if he does not adhere to it, then move on. You have to love yourself more because time is not on the side of the women. Just move on. If he loves you enough, he will ask you back and ask for your hand. If he does not, then he was never worth your time in the first place.

3. The Princess (and her Prince): A lot of single ladies fall into this category. They probably have read too many fairy tales or indulge in too many Hollywood movies or Korean dramas. They would like to meet their prince charming ‘by chance’ because they believe that it is not romantic if they do anything extra to meet him. I believe that dating is a numbers game. Out of every 10 single men you meet, probably there are only 5 whom you are interested to know more about and he too would like to know you better. From the 5, you will probably go on a first date with 3 or 4. And from that 3 or 4, you will probably only go on more dates with 2 or 3. And from there, hopefully, you meet the one. Hence, the question is, if you do not even meet 10 single men in a month or even for some a year, what are the chances you would meet the one? I always ask the princesses, do you wish to be romantically single for the rest of your life, or be more proactive and find your prince charming? My advice is, give yourself more opportunities and find more platform to widen your social circle and meet more new people.

4. The Clueless: Some ladies do not have a lot of relationship experience or have not dated in a long time. Hence, they have no idea of what to expect when it comes to dating or might have unrealistic expectations when it comes to dating. They would tell me things like, “Why should I do anything different? They should like me for who I am. If they don’t, then they are not worth my time!” when I suggest that they put on some light makeup when they go on a date. My question to them is, “There are many guys out there who are very nice and have great personality, however they might not meet your height preference (height is very important for most ladies!), then why don’t you like them for who they are as well?” My advice is that we should challenge our own list of criteria and preferences. Ultimately, we judge others, others judge us as well. When we look at each of our criterion, we should ask ourselves, is this a ‘must have’ or a ‘good to have’. If he is 1.75m, does it mean that he would be a better husband or a better father?

Violet Lim is the CEO & Co-Founder of Lunch Actually, Asia’s first lunch dating company and she blogs at http://www.violetlim.com/

Domestic work in Singapore is extremely demanding for a village teenager. We are glad the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has made it clear it will not condone underage workers and placed the onus on employment agencies to prevent such occurrences.

But raising the entry age from 18 to 23 years has led to a shortage of maids and therefore new ways by agencies to beat the rule.

The authorities in Singapore and the maids’ home countries need to work together with greater tenacity to deter this practice.

We are also concerned over why MOM continues to rely on the official passport as proof of age when it is well known that passports from some countries can be doctored.

Furthermore, MOM has penalised only four of the 14 agencies that brought in underage maids last year.

This is not in line with encouraging agencies to guard against recruiting underage workers.

The difficulty for agencies in authenticating the age of inbound workers suggests the need for a checklist of measures that agencies should be held accountable for implementing.

Some agencies and employers compel workers to continue even if they are mentally or emotionally incompetent, or have decided to admit their real age. They do this to discharge the worker’s debt to the agency and avoid disruption to the employer.

Often, agencies threaten workers with imprisonment if they are found to be underage.

Workers who report an agency or employer who has compelled them not to reveal their real age should be offered witness protection and immunity from prosecution.

Where underage women are traded, the agencies in both the home and destination countries should face consequences. For example, the Singapore agency could be blacklisted.

Bridget Tan is the Founder President of HOME (Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics) which provide humanitarian assistance for the effects of ‘crisis’ migration.

I disagree. Although we may not be able to remember and identify every single political and historical figure or landmark on our little island state, it is unfair to make the sweeping generalisation that all of us are completely uneducated and uninterested in our country’s history.

There has been an argument put forth that a reason for the lack of interest in history is that our education system focuses on and nurtures the sciences, not the arts. This is little more than a poor excuse. Why should schools be solely responsible for the education of our country’s children? History is an interactive subject and parents can – and should – play and important role in their children’s education; instead of taking your kids to the mall, take them to visit Little India or Kampung Glam. Or to Chinatown or the Peranakan museum. Teach them about the ways of their grandparents, let them learn how meaningful their culture is.

Have your child spend an afternoon with his grandparents and let them listen to the stories of their elders. Encourage them to ask questions. Challenge yourself to answer them. Bring them to the library and encourage them to read. Don’t leave everything to their teachers.

There is no need for renaming of streets and landmarks to commemorate our political and historical figures. Our forefathers don’t need to be remembered as ostentatious statues of marble; they just need their stories to be told.

My parents and grandparents had many stories to tell me about the history of Singapore. When they ran out, they supplemented by education by giving me books and taking me to museums. Many of my peers learnt the same way. School trips and lessons educate us of the facts, but cultivating the interest and enthusiasm for our history is something only the community can do. If all parents could do the same, we wouldn’t have to debate the loss of our sense of history.

Sarah Ooi is an often angry Wilde childe at http://sarahooi.tumblr.com/, but a disgustingly happy person in real life.

I attribute this situation to the low emphasis given to history as a subject in our schools. There is a strong focus on mathematics, science and economics and insufficient attention to history, culture and arts. Our top scholars are likely to come from the science stream.

Another reason is the heavy study load. We expect too much from our children. I recall that topics that I learned in secondary school 40 years ago are now covered in the lower primary school.

Our younger generation is losing more than a sense of history. They do not understand the values that help to build the character of a person – values of honesty, fairness, a positive attitude, courage and a sense of public service.

Too many people look after their own interest and are not aware of their responsibility to the other people that make up a community.

We can lay the blame on the over-emphasis on self reliance and the drumming that “nothing is for free”. This encourages each person to be self centered. If they are taught about the sense of community, the attitude and mindset will be different.

Our schools have been teaching National Education for a few decades. It does not seem to have a positive impact in building up the Singaporean as a person of strong values and character, a sense of right and wrong, good and bad and an understanding of the lessons of history. Perhaps, the emphasis should be on character and values, rather than national education, or the two objectives should be merged into one.

Unfortunately, we do have a culture of political worship. For too long, we have a single party and a few personalities dominating the landscape. Singaporeans do not have choice in understanding different leaders with different values and priorities. They tend to think that there is only one right choice and approach. There is lack of diversity in thinking and approach.

We do not need statues to commemorate our founding fathers. We can give better credit to their contributions by telling stories about their contribution and giving time for our young people to learn about them.

When our young people have an understanding of history and of the past leaders who have left their mark in history, they will learn that these leaders are people with a character and personality that are shaped by their personal values and are ordinary people who can make mistakes and face setbacks and adversities. Through the lessons of history, they will earn about the importance of democracy, freedom, respect for people and their cultures and diversities.

This will build a people who are more confident of their place in society, about their personal values and beliefs.

Mr. Tan Kin Lian was the former chief executive of NTUC Income. He is now the founder and director of Tan Kin Lian & Associates Pte Ltd, which recently launched a game called Family Life (click on the Guide to find out how you can win one of 120 prizes to be won everyday!). He is the current President of the Financial Services Consumer Association and teaches a course at Singapore Management University.

However, posts on Lunar New Year celebrations in China aside, I’ve not before shared my perspectives on this wonderful cultural experience back home in Singapore. Although the background is relatively the same, just as we have experienced with other Chinese festivities, many of the events and traditions are much different. So for all my non-Singaporean friends and new residents of Singapore, let me share some of my observations.

Let’s look for example, at the very uniquely Singaporean tradition of ‘tossing’ what many Westerners might call a ‘hotchpotch’ of ingredients into the air while yelling out well wishes for the New Year… my first exposure to this activity back in 2006 took me completely by surprise, to say the least! Nobody warned me what was to follow – but being one to always partake in any local festivities to their fullest, I jumped up and joined in the tossing while yelling ‘Lo Hei’ (only later did my colleagues brief me on the tradition and explain that we were basically wishing for longevity and prosperity).

I will not even try to explain the full reason for each of the ingredients or their meanings (for fear of looking even more stupid than I did that very first day), so let me suggest a brief reading on the topic here… if you want to do even more research, just Google the Chinese – 发财鱼生 (or Chinese pinyin fā​cái yú shēng) – and you will find thousands of articles… I will reinforce however, that from what I know of Chinese culture, this is probably something that is very specific to Singapore – even my wife had never heard of or seen this behavior in northern or central mainland China.

Another very interesting observation, is what many could call an ‘obsession’ with a particular seafood not commonly consumed in many other parts of the world – not even in Australia, which is apparently one of the largest producers and exporters of this relatively expensive commodity. I am, of course, referring to ‘Abalone’.

Now I am still not a big consumer of Abalone (unless it happens to be included in one of the festive dishes during Chinese New Year) – just like durian… it’s definitely an acquired taste, and not something that I would go out of my way to purchase – but I’m led to believe that the cost of high quality Abalone is very steep indeed, and many people save their hard-earned money just to enjoy this ‘sea snail’ which is considered somewhat of a delicacy at this time of year. I do know, that a 425gram can of Abalone from New Zealand retails for around S$42.

Finally, although I am very accustomed to the tradition of sharing of ‘hong bao’ (in Singapore, it’s often known as ‘ang bao’ or ‘angpow’), or the ‘red packet’, it is definitely at a different scale to mainland China. The company I work for gives each of their employees a red packet with a nominal amount of money – from my observation, it’s more the gesture that counts in Singapore, rather than the actual monetary value.

What I’m not used to however, is the sharing and receiving of mandarins. I have no idea what this one is about, but I fully intend to find out! I have heard that it is not good form to give just one mandarin – it must be a gift in at least pairs… go figure!

In summary, for any foreigners, new expats or residents or those just thinking of spending their vacation in Singapore this Lunar New Year, I strongly encourage you to get out there and experience the festivities for all they are worth… and I don’t just mean hitting up a restaurant on Orchard Road or in your hotel!! Now that I am actively involved in the Grassroots organization in my local community, I have become very aware of how much effort goes into the local heartland events, and I strongly recommend that if you want to experience the culture and diversity associated with such an important time in our calendar, that you take the trek outside of the tourist areas and mix it with the locals – I will guarantee that you will be made feel welcome and that you will experience a Chinese New Year that is uniquely Singaporean and cannot be found anywhere else in Asia!

Peter Breitkreutz (aka Aussie Pete) is a PR who has been living and working in Singapore for more than 5 years. VP of a global bank by day, Peter lives with his wife and two young boys (both born in Singapore), is author of award winning blog, www.aussiepete.com and star blogger at OMY (http://blog.omy.sg/aussiepete) and MICA (http://www.blogfriends.sg/Blogs/aussiepete.aspx).