By Hasnita Majid, Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE : It is Christmas eve and many people are out and about for a last minute burst of their favourite activity - shopping.
Crowds, crowds and more crowds: it is a familiar scene every year at Orchard Road just a day before Christmas when many engage in last-minute shopping.
SINGAPORE : It is Christmas eve and many people are out and about for a last minute burst of their favourite activity - shopping.
Crowds, crowds and more crowds: it is a familiar scene every year at Orchard Road just a day before Christmas when many engage in last-minute shopping.
Some shoppers say they remind themselves to shop early but still end up racing to the malls.
One shopper said: "Just lazy, wait till the last minute kind of thing."
Another said: "I had something in mind but when I checked it out yesterday, it was not available so I'd better do it (today), I have two hours to do it now."
But for Bernard Gay an early start to his Christmas shopping still did not help.
He said: "I have about 40 presents to get so I started about 2 weeks ago but I didn't find everything for everybody. So in the end, last minute I find some things for my brothers and sisters - I got 3 today so on average about 5 or 6 in a day, the maximum that I can find!"
And if a shopper thinks he can beat the crowds in town by going to the heartlands, think again.
Crowds also thronged the malls there, and they are registering brisk business with last minute shoppers.
One shopper said: "Just lazy, wait till the last minute kind of thing."
Another said: "I had something in mind but when I checked it out yesterday, it was not available so I'd better do it (today), I have two hours to do it now."
But for Bernard Gay an early start to his Christmas shopping still did not help.
He said: "I have about 40 presents to get so I started about 2 weeks ago but I didn't find everything for everybody. So in the end, last minute I find some things for my brothers and sisters - I got 3 today so on average about 5 or 6 in a day, the maximum that I can find!"
And if a shopper thinks he can beat the crowds in town by going to the heartlands, think again.
Crowds also thronged the malls there, and they are registering brisk business with last minute shoppers.
At the NTUC FairPrice outlet in Ang Mo Kio hub, there were queues at the check-out counters.
Its cooked food section also reported good sales, with at least 600 pre-orders of roasted turkey, lamb and log cakes being collected.
Many shoppers were also there to get groceries for their Christmas dinner.
"We decided to have steamboat so we came to get some ingredients. The ingredients more fresh also, last minute will be more fresh!" said one couple.
"Sometimes you need to be in this kind of crowd area and then you feel the festive season is coming"
For one lady, Christmas will have an added meaning as she's celebrating it at home after spending it overseas in previous years.
Jane Tan is preparing dinner for up to 20 guests.
She said: "We decided to have an open house from 7pm onwards so we ordered a lot of food in advance."
Metro, for one, will be extending its shopping hours till 11pm on Christmas eve.
Retailers are certainly not complaining - with the cash registers ringing non-stop so far it is music to their ears. - CNA/ch