Ushering Spring to Singapore

Well, there is no Winter in Singapore, nor Spring, since its situated in the Tropics not too far away from the Equator, but the country still celebrates Christmas, which has just passed (too quickly for many, I am sure) but Spring is upon us, i.e. the Lunar New Year, which falls on 29 January this year (2006) - the first day of the Lunar New Year (sometimes also called the Chinese New Year). Celebrations are already beginning. Yesterday evening, in Chinatown, there was a fireworks display graced by non other than SM Lee Kuan Yew and his wife. That's also where you can perhaps see and hear real firecrackers going off 'live'. Firecrackers were banned in Singapore a long time ago, making the New Year much quieter. Anyway, this photo shows a quiet Chinatown street just hours before the 'party' which commenced at 7pm. The road has already been closed to traffic. I was there with my wife doing some shopping. While she shopped, I went around the place smelling the atmosphere and snapping some pictures. We decided not to stay for the evening because there was a hungry boy waiting at home for dinner.