I feel a little sorry for tourists who visit Singapore during the Chinese New Year period. Most eateries are closed from Chinese New Year's Eve due to the reunion dinner, all the way to at least the second day of New Year. This year it was worse, because the first day was a Sunday, so everything came to a standstill from Saturday and only restarted on Wednesday, the fourth day of New Year.

I was at Sim Lim Square on Saturday, New Year's Eve. While the womenfolk in our household prepared for the reunion dinner, the menfolk, that is, me, went out to do some last minute shopping. My official reason was to pick up an iPhone headphone for the wife and also some tools and parts to repair a broken bed. 

The streets were empty and many shops had their shutters down. This was Saturday afternoon, so it looked like a surreal scene out of a zombie movie.

In Sim Lim Square, technology mall and the tourist rip-off city of Singapore, most shops were closed or closing. I could see tourists looking a little dazed. They must be wondering why no shops were open on a Saturday to take advantage of them. 

Hey, even dodgy electronics salesmen have to go home for reunion dinner, ok?

I was a little relieved to see so many shops closed, to be honest. The last time I came here to buy a S$50 replacement battery for my Ricoh GR-II point-and-shoot camera, I walked out with a new Micro Four-thirds camera system costing more than a thousand bucks.

Having accomplished my mission of getting the wife's headphones, I went to Mustafa's in Little India to pick up my tools and random DIY bits. I knew it would be open as the big but messy mall was open 24 hours. I could buy gold chains and a fridge on New Year's Eve here, if I wanted to.

The family gathered at Mom's for dinner that night. It was a rowdy and noisy affair. Mom played host to her three boys, spouses, and kids. We plowed through abalone, roast chicken, yusheng, and some good wine. Then it was time for Mom to make her yearly midnight trip to the Kuan Yin Temple at Waterloo Street, also known as Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple (观音堂佛祖庙).

I offered to be her driver. There were going to be thousands of people there because the temple is very popular during the Chinese New Year period. Worshippers gather from all over the region to squeeze into the temple to seek blessings from the Goddess of Mercy for the year.

The crowd was there in full force, many carrying giant joss sticks bought from the stands lining the walkway to the temple. There seemed to be only three sizes -- large, extra-large and jumbo-sized. Empty Milo cans burning with fire were provided for worshippers to light their joss sticks. I think a joss stick seller could sell more joss sticks in this one night than the whole year combined. 

I stood with the worshippers as auxiliary police released them into the holding areas in batches. Mom had her joss sticks, I had my camera. 

As the crowd stood shoulder to shoulder, ashes from the joss sticks would occasionally fall on heads (I wisely had a cap on) and sometimes, a mom would get burned on the back by an inexperienced daughter holding her joss stick too low. A family waiting behind the ropes asked me to help light their joss sticks as I was already in the inner holding area and I happily obliged, running to a nearby Milo tin.

Yet despite the size of the crowd, most people were patient and of good cheer. After all, everyone was here to seek blessings for the year, and it was not very auspicious to kick off the Year of the Tiger getting mad at someone in an event like this.

The announcer was very articulate, shouting instructions over the PA system in both Chinese and English. "Don't push ah, wait for your turn. No need to rush," he would say.

"Not yet time, not yet time. Don't come in yet. You haven't heard me count down yet, right?" he would say later. The crowd laughed.

Mom told me many people wanted to be the first to shove their joss sticks into the urn, when the clock struck midnight, believing that they would be more blessed.

We regrouped at a drinks stall nearby after Mom made her run, and grabbed a drink. Then it was off to the next temple on the list, Yueh Hai Ching Temple at Phillip Street. This is the oldest Taoist temple in Singapore, and it is located in the heart of the civic district. Surrounded by banks and skyscrapers, it sits quietly at a corner street, welcoming the midnight crowd of devotees.

Though my mom is not a Teochew (she is Cantonese), she still makes her visit to this temple that is frequented by the Teochew community. I stayed in the forecourt, taking my photos (they don't allow photography inside the temple itself) and watching the burning of incense and joss sticks.

We drove home with the car windows down, so that Mom's giant joss sticks could stick out of the car and continue burning. At the traffic lights, motorcyclists were seen riding with one hand holding their big burning joss sticks, and the collective fragrance from all our joss sticks rose and blended with the night air of Shenton Way.

Whatever your race, religious beliefs, or dialect group, may you all have a blessed Year of the Tiger.