Celebrating Chinese New Year in Singapore
Ced earned a bachelor's degree in communication studies in 1999. His interests include history, traveling, and mythology.
Chinese New Year in Singapore is a fascinating display of festive food, auspicious red and gold decorations, and enchanting street lights.
The Chinese Spring Festival in Singapore
Chinese New Year is the first major ethnic festival to take place in Singapore each year. With 70 percent of the Singaporean population being Southern Chinese, the festival is considered one of the most important of the year. Preparation and anticipation for it can be felt throughout the city-state for about a month before the actual holiday.
Alternatively called the Lunar New Year* or the Chinese Spring Festival, the dates for this ethnic holiday are usually around the first half of February too, sometimes happening as early as late January. Because of this, there is always a palpable sensation of “gearing-to-go” the moment Christmas and January 1st are over. Overnight, “CNY” bazaars spring up all over Singapore. Some shopping malls also creatively refurbish their Christmas decorations to suit the lunar festival.
Christmas puddings and Santa Claus are speedily replaced with New Year kuay (cakes) and jovial Chinese Gods of Wealth, with red and gold becoming the dominant colors everywhere. One knows the Chinese Spring Festival is close when at every corner in the city-state, there is a red decoration with glittering golden Chinese characters.
* The festival is also known as such for the Chinese calendar is based on cycles of the moon.
Chinese New Year 2022 Dates
For 2022, the New Year begins on Feb 1. Traditionally, celebrations will also continue for 15 days till Feb 15.
The incoming Chinese Zodiac animal for the New Year is always showcased at the Chinatown festive Light-Up. The showpiece for this picture is that for Year of the Tiger 2022.
Chinatown Light-Up and Festive Bazaar
Chinese New Year celebrations in Singapore always formally begin with the annual Chinatown festive light-up and street bazaar.
A grand ceremony kick-starts this in January each year, transforming the entire heritage district into a bustling festive playground with lit decorations and New Year goods everywhere. The associated festive bazaar itself also lasts until Chinese New Year’s Eve. From start to end, the whole area is packed with shoppers and tourists every night.
Update 2022: Regrettably, the COVID-19 Pandemic has resulted in the festive bazaar again being canceled. The light-up, however, is unaffected. Many permanent shops alongside the streets are also selling festive decorations as usual.
A Must-Visit for All Before The New Year Arrives
Since the 1990s, Chinese New Year goods and festive decorations are also sold throughout Singapore. Despite that, many Singaporeans, both Chinese and non-Chinese alike, still flock to the Chinatown bazaar. They do so both to soak in the festive ambiance and to enjoy the free street performances in and around the bazaar.
How Many Days Is Chinese New Year Officially Celebrated in Singapore?
Traditionally, Chinese New Year lasts 15 days. In modern Singapore, though, only the first two days are public holidays. If the second day falls on a Sunday, the next day i.e. Monday will be designated a public holiday.
Waterloo Street
In recent years, Waterloo Street is also a center of celebration during Chinese New Year in Singapore.
While the festive market here is much smaller, it is popular because the area is right beside the beloved Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple. There are also two popular shrines to Phra Phrom (Thailand's revered Four-Face Buddha). Many shoppers therefore take the opportunity to offer prayers to both Kwam Im i.e. Guan Yin and Phra Phrom for good fortune while shopping for New Year festive goodies.
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And on Chinese New Year’s Eve, thousands of devotees flock to Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple to offer midnight prayers, this being one of the most important religious rituals for some Singapore Buddhists. Close to midnight, the entire Waterloo Street is transformed into a crowded sea of aromatic incense.
Other Chinese New Year Festive Bazaars and Decorations in Singapore
As mentioned above, Lunar New Year festive goods are widely sold throughout the country in January and February. Many malls and sightseeing attractions will also put up appropriate decorations. At major attractions, such as Jewel Changi Airport and Gardens by the Bay, the decorations could be very elaborate.
Yummy Food, Red and Gold, and Huat
According to some locals, Chinese New Year in Singapore is all about delicious festive food.
Others say the Spring Festival is about prosperity and money-making. Some also feel it’s about proper preparation for stunning career success in the coming year.
Whatever one’s beliefs, desires, or aspirations, Chinese New Year festive bazaars in Singapore cater to one and all. Food stalls are everywhere. Red and golden decorations adorn every corner too, many of which feature the Chinese Zodiac animal of the incoming year.
Visitors able to read Chinese will also immediately notice wordings on the decorations all being well wishes for prosperity and easy money-making. Of note, Huat (發), the Hokkien-Chinese word for a windfall, is the most commonly used character. This could be considered the one must-know word when celebrating the lunar spring festival in Singapore too. Even festive cakes and snacks are often adorned with Huat.
Chinese New Year’s Eve and Reunion Dinner
One of the most important rituals of Chinese New Year in Singapore is the Reunion Dinner, which takes place on the evening of the Eve. On this night, Chinese families gather for a sumptuous dinner. The meal itself symbolizes unity and harmony for the entire extended family and culturally, is one of the most important events of the Chinese calendar year.
In the past, mothers and grandmothers would slog for days to prepare for this important feast. Food markets would also be packed with frantic shoppers right up to the last moment.
Nowadays, though, many Singaporean families opt to enjoy their Reunion Dinners at restaurants instead. This, in turn, translates to practically all Chinese restaurants operating on the Eve offering only Reunion Dinner dining packages, with these packages usually fully booked way in advance.
For travelers in Singapore, this is something to take note of; it can be a tough challenge finding a place to eat on the Eve. Even Western eateries such as fast-food outlets could be very crowded, with long snaking queues on that important night.
Other Chinese New Year’s Eve “Traditions”
Other rituals for Chinese New Year’s Eve, albeit less formal ones, include visiting flower bazaars and offering prayers at temples after Reunion Dinner.
The former, called guang hua shi (逛花市), originated from the olden custom of visiting marketplaces to buy festive plants as decorations. Naturally, most Singaporean families nowadays would have already purchased all necessary decorations by the Eve but guang hua shi remains a popular outing for many. This is especially with stalls typically offering outrageous bargains before midnight.
As for the latter, the hours before midnight are strictly for visits to popular temples and shrines, the purpose being to offer prayers to deities at the onset of the New Year.
Such prayers, or di yi zhu xiang (第一柱香), invite peace and blessings for the whole of the New Year. As mentioned above, the Waterloo Street Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple is the foremost location in Singapore for this practice. To repeat, the areas in and around the popular temple are always packed from late evening till past midnight on the Eve.
Da Nian Chu Yi: The First Day of Chinese New Year
With most shops and businesses closed, the streets of Singapore are relatively quiet on the first day of the New Year. There is, however, still plenty of human traffic, with Chinese families rushing to visit relatives while decked out in bright colors.
All will be carrying vivid paper carriers too —these containing Mandarin oranges in pairs. Such oranges are the standard and the must-have for any Chinese New Year house visit, as the fruit symbolizes gold. In fact, it is even considered culturally rude, and borderline offensive, to visit a Chinese household without any Mandarin orange during the lunar spring festival.
Singaporean Chinese children love the lunar spring festival for they receive hong bao, or red packets. Traditionally, these are red envelopes containing money. Nowadays, hong bao come in all shades of vibrant colors too.
The Celebrations Continue at River Hongbao
The closure of the Chinatown festive bazaar on the Eve doesn’t mean the cessation of Lunar New Year street celebrations in Singapore. On the contrary, a bigger, more dazzling one begins toward the end of the Chinatown celebrations.
Known as River Hongbao and typically hosted at The Float @ Marina Bay, this is a large open-air exhibition featuring immense lanterns, cultural performances, and even fireworks.
For Singaporeans, River Hongbao also replaces Chinatown as the place to head to with family members or friends after the arrival of the New Year. With the spectacular Singapore skyline as backdrop, there is indeed nowhere else in the country more suitable to continue the celebration. Nowhere else more atmospheric to embrace a brand new year too.
Further Reading
- Chinatown Chinese New Year Light-Up 2022 | The Scribbling Geek
Visiting and photographing my tiger brethren at Chinatown Chinese New Year Light-Up 2022. It’s going to be a roaring, vigourous year ahead! - Chinese New Year customs in Singapore | Infopedia
Chinese New Year is celebrated by most Chinese in Singapore. The first day of the lunar new year usually falls between the winter solstice (dongzhi) and spring’s beginning (lichun). This typically falls between 21 January and 20 February each year. - Top 5 Chinese New Year Legends and Stories
Why do the Chinese wear red during Chinese New Year? How did the name for fifteenth night celebrations come about? These Chinese New Year legends explain all. - Chinese New Year Business Customs: What’s Important to Know
It's important to learn Chinese New Year business customs and traditions if you are new to working with Chinese companies.
© 2017 Ced Yong
Comments
Ced Yong (author) from Asia on February 19, 2017:
Hey Paul, thanks for commenting! I'm happy to know the article brought back memories for you. Incidentally, I didn't have nian gao this new year, again. Somehow, glutinous rice stopped agreeing with my stomach, or vice versa, and I can't eat it without getting a massive gastric disorder.
I miss it a lot!
Paul Richard Kuehn from Udorn City, Thailand on February 19, 2017:
I really enjoyed reading this article and viewing your great colorful pictures. This all brings back memories of the Chinese New Year festivals which I celebrated in Taiwan in the 70s. I especially remember eating the delicious glutinous rice cake, niang gao or kuay. We called it "di gui" in Taiwanese and it was either sweet or salty. I liked the sweet variety.
Ced Yong (author) from Asia on January 10, 2017:
Hey AliciaC, thanks for your comment. I do hope you can visit us, or the region, some day eventually.
Linda Crampton from British Columbia, Canada on January 10, 2017:
The New Year celebration sounds like such fun. I love your descriptions and the colourful photos. I appreciate this article because it's highly unlikely that I'll ever be able to visit Singapore myself. I enjoy learning about it by reading articles like this.
