Chinese New Year (CNY) is just around the corner – and for many Singaporeans, there’s nothing that gets them in the festive mood more than decorations, especially ones that light up.
While most of us limit our decorations to our own places, some can’t resist extending them to the communal corridor too.
For 4 families who share a corridor in Woodlands, they’ve embarked on their tradition of decking out the space together for the 4th CNY in a row.
This time round, they’ve made sure to upgrade their decor so that it dazzles at night as well as in the daytime.
This extensively accessorised corridor can be found in Block 851, Woodlands Street 83.
It’s affectionately called “le kampung” by the 4 households that live there.
That’s because their friendly relationship harks back to the legendary “kampung spirit” of bygone years, when people used to live in actual kampungs.
When Ms Jasmine Ng, one of the residents, spoke to MS News last year, she said as CNY approaches, each family would contribute money towards decorations.
They’ll then meet up on weekends before CNY to decorate the corridor together like a large extended family.
What a fun bonding activity that must be!
They started doing this in 2019, and have kept up the now-annual tradition till now.
From the photos she posted on Facebook this year, visitors to the floor will be greeted by festive cheer right from the lift landing.
As they turn the corner to the staircase landing, they’ll come across the most elaborate display – which includes a jolly God Of Fortune and gold ingots of different sizes.
While last year’s display also featured a beautiful golden leaf tree, they’ve changed it this year to a “CNY tree” (i.e. something like a Christmas tree, but for CNY?) with various ornaments.
When visitors wind their way across to the corridor, they’ll see a sumptuously adorned passageway.
While last year’s streamers had adorable oxen, we noticed that they’ve been replaced by tigers for the upcoming Year Of The Tiger.
Check out also the cute and meaningful CNY greetings on each pillar.
Each flat also still gets an auspicious couplet at their door.
See this video for a “virtual tour” of the whole set-up:
While the decorations draw attention in the daytime, the fairy lights ensure they’re also alluring at night.
In fact, this year the families have upgraded their decor for optimum night viewing, said Ms Ng.
Thus, besides the corridor, sparkling lights now adorn the staircase landing display as well, allowing the God Of Fortune to twinkle like the star he always has been.
The lighting up of the CNY tree enhances the celebratory atmosphere indeed.
Check out how the display sparkles at night here:
From the upgraded lighting to the well-chosen trinkets, it’s clear that “le kampung” has outdone themselves again this CNY.
Kudos to the families for not only making their shared space pretty, but also showing us that the kampung spirit is still alive and well in Singapore.
It gives us hope that the nation will be similarly unified and peaceful this CNY and beyond. We can’t wait to see what they’ll do next year!
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Featured images adapted from Jasmine Ng Jia Min on Facebook.
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