January
Singapore’s Changi Airport opens its third major terminal, T3, on 10th January to much fanfare. More hordes of happy tourists will descend to our sunny (and stormy) island to spend, spend, spend. Or so we hope. Another place for our (sudden oversupply of) taxis to queue.
February
The Chinese in Singapore celebrate the Year of the Rat, and hopefully will open their wallets during these penny-pinching days. (According to Chinese Astrology, the Rat is generous but greedy.)
March
The Singapore Flyer at Marina Bay will open on 1st March as Singapore’s newest attraction, offering spectacular views of southern Singapore from its 165m apex. It’s already fully booked for the first few weeks when it starts. Too bad the wheel-like structure doesn’t help to generate electricity or cool down our incredibly hot and humid island. You may be in luck if you offer acrophobia counselling, air-sickness pills, barf bags or sunshades.
From 28 March to 6 April, rail-thin leggy girls will parade around in the latest collections at Ngee Ann Civic Plaza as part of the Singapore Fashion Festival. No food please - we’re emaciated, bulimic models.
May
The Great Singapore Sale starts. It’s expected to grow bigger and encompass more of Singapore’s heartlands, so expect shopping crowds everywhere till 20 July. Time to invade the pasar malams.
June
UEFA’s Euro 2008 football tournament takes place in Austria and Switzerland. Low productivity can be expected from our European expatriates. F&B establishments and drinking holes around Clarke Quay and Orchard Road will be packed out – especially those with large-screen TVs. British expatriates will also feature prominently, drowning their sorrows in pubs and whining about the failure of their teams to make the finals. German beer, Polish sausages, Italian pizzas, Spanish red wine… it’s a European feast fest.
August
This time, Chinese nationals in Singapore will go to work bleary-eyed and hoarse as they follow China’s expected sporting successes when Beijing hosts the Olympics. Think Tsingtao, dumplings and little red China flags. Expect high incidences of MC-taking and low productivity though. Singaporeans, on the other hand, are unlikely to care. China-related goods will hopefully regain some of its recently tattered reputation (but don’t count on it).
September
Roads around Marina Bay will roar with the sounds of the 2008 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix on 26-28 September. It’s F1’s first street race in Asia, and also its first-ever night event in F1 history. Hotels and other locales offering great views of the city circuit has already been snapped up (at ludicrously high prices). The event expects some 80,000 spectators. Kacang putih, scantily-clad car models, beer and earplugs will be in great demand, and the traffic police can also expect brisk business in issuing tickets for speeding (and illegal parking).
November
America chooses a new president – and the world will hold its breath in trepidation. Local entrepreneurs will wonder its impact on the (weakened) US dollar.
Christmas in the Tropics begins on 15 Nov – whole stretches of Singapore’s shopping district will be lit up. (Bargain) hunting season begins, and is expected to last till early January 2009.
December
Christmas, ’nuff said.
