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As I see it | Singapore’s Lunar New Year traditions evolving as youth attitudes towards customs change
- Many Singaporeans are shunning Lunar New Year’s customs like visiting family, and are instead choosing to travel to ‘escape’ seeing some relatives
- In another sign of changing times, some people have started wearing black outfits to reunion dinners, an act that was considered a no-no in the past
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Dewey Simin Singapore
Every Lunar New Year without fail, my mother would send an elaborate home-visiting schedule to the family group chat and remind me not to make other plans. This year, I have to visit nine households – slightly fewer than previous years – owing to my large extended family.
It has been a mainstay that I never questioned, especially as a child, but I have realised this year that many of my friends have chosen to skip home visits and celebrated the festivities slightly differently.
One group of friends travelled to Taiwan on the eve of Lunar New Year; another went to Japan for a ski trip, making full use of the long four-day weekend.
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One friend, in her 30s, jetted off to Hong Kong, in what she said was a grand plan to “escape” seeing several of her relatives.
04:07
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“It’s quite irritating and fake,” she told me. “You got to catch up with relatives you don’t really care about and since you’re an adult, you cannot just sit in one corner, sulk, and play on your phone.”
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