Christmas Shopping Happiness

These birds are Christmas shopping at Orchard Road too.

A rare sight at our "happening" touristy place at Orchard Road, Singapore during the Christmas season.

According to popular Chinese geomancers, pigeons found in any public places by themselves is a good sign of business prosperity in the location. Other tourist belts in Frankfurt, New York, Rome, London and most European countries are found bird-feeding in the public. Those wild birds may be of other species though.

At least once for this blog, I have applied the "Principle of Blogging" practices to follow strictly with the blog meta tags of the topics, associated with the relevant subjects. As a rule of thumb, the sequence of the blog contents should follow the presentation of an essay writing by the beginning, the middle, and the end.

Christmas

Its the time of the festive season with Christmas just a few days away.

On an early morning last week, I made a trip to Orchard Road in Singapore. (This is specifically mentioned for the benefit of my friends who are located outside Singapore). Obviously, the "happening street" at Orchard Road is now world famous.

"Christmas in Singapore is a magical time for everyone. You sense a great build-up as early as mid-November. A magical event no visitor should miss is the annual Orchard Road Christmas Light-up.

You know what, for me, is the most enjoyable thing to do at the Orchard Road Light Up? I like to stand like a dwarf below the giant 15m tall Christmas trees, and look up at the glowing stars in wide-eyed wonder. There's a child in this 62-year-old.

The stars are brightly shining...

Trees aglow. Aren't they quite enchanting?

In this Enchanted Garden, even street lamps look like trees.

In all the bustle at street level, don't forget to look up. There are some lovely things to look at." [Quoted from a visitor's blog to express. The italic is mine.]

I wanted a feel of the place at different times of the day.

That morning, I found a vacant bench opposite Takashimaya and sat there for almost two hours by myself.

If ever you met me by accident in a public place, with a "Lau Uncle" sitting there staring into blank space, sometimes soliloquy while alone. Even while people watching for something curious or interesting, my mind was usually far, far away.

Please forgive me to be left alone and do not disturb. This "Lau Uncle" has the privilege to have a time of his own to reminisce...in a mental (but not yet senile or paranoid :)world of his own. My train of thought was easily distracted and somewhat slow in thinking nowadays. I beg your pardon.

What was I thinking about then? Here's a "memory aid" from the older photo below:

Reason for the Season!

Almost 5 years ago on 25 December, 2005, that photo was taken at:

Thimbuktu Phlog's "Walk Down Memory Lane" .

Surreal...

The same place and occasion, different times, different experiences and journey to walk down memory lane.

Christmas is an universal festival celebrated by everyone all over the world, not confined to Christians.

On the message of the float: The message on this float:

"Jesus is Born
The Reason for the Season"

This slogan is a Christmas public message, not an advertising slogan of a commercial marketing genre.

In Singapore's multi-faith society, a multi-religious country due to its diverse ethnic mix of peoples originating from various countries.

Thus the birth of Buddha, Prophet Muhammad, Lord Krishna, Ganesha and gods of other religions worshipped in Singapore are recognised as their reasons for the season.

Besides the slogan as shown on the float, public education efforts are also organised by the community, religious or grassroots groups to promote Racial Harmony at OnePeople Singapore .

The OPSG–IRO Inter-Faith Dialogues are held for each religion according to the chronology of the advent of the different religions Hinduism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and Baha’i Faith.

Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circles (IRCCs) and the like.

Shopping

According to Wikipedia, there are 76 pages in the category of shopping malls in Singapore listed here .

Most of these shopping malls are conveniently located with public transportation for almost everything under one roof. Shopping is no longer a chore. Singaporeans and tourists could shop until they drop.

Singapore is indeed a shopping haven and has become an acclaimed tourist hub of the world. There were 9.7 million visitors to Singapore in 2009 and expects visitor arrivals to hit a record of around 12 million in 2010.

Happiness

According to American explorer and author Dan Buettner in his recently launched book, Thrive, Finding Happiness The Blue Zones Way, Singapore is the 'happiest place in Asia'. Mr Buettner picks city-state based on factors like tolerance, equality and security as reported by Tracy Quek in The Straits Times, 5 Dec 10, 2010.

I have not read the book by Dan or any reports on any surveys on the "Happiness Index".

However, the expression of many people we meet at the shopping malls during Christmas time, Singapore is certainly the "happiest place in Asia". Good news for all Singaporeans.

Best Wishes for Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.