Singapore Eid read out

May 22, 2013 9:16 AM

The Aseno family is planning to go to Singapore few days after this year's Eid (end of Ramadan). We know in other muslim countries, Eid celebration can last up for up to a week afterwards. Businesses (read: attractions and great food joints) usually take long vacations before they open again on regular hours. We're not planning to go touristy, but instead want to absorb local life style, eat and go where locals go. So, citizens of Metafilter, is it wise to travel to Singapore close to Eid, given our objectives, or should we wait another week or two until it's normal again? Or, if I may switch my perspective, are there anything that is worth traveling to Singapore during/near Eid?
posted by aseno to Travel & Transportation around Singapore (4 answers total)

Singapore isn't especially Muslim -- I suppose if you are hankering for Malaysian food in particular the more religious Malay-run restaurants might be closed, but it shouldn't be a big obstacle.
posted by MattD at 9:26 AM on May 22, 2013

Singapore is in no way a Muslim country (wiki). The government is entirely secular, and business/retail culture is very similar to Hong Kong/London/NYC or any "world-class" metropolis. Muslim population is only 14.7%, not nearly enough to affect anything for a celebration like Eid. The Muslim neighbourhoods might have a festival, and the government puts banners up for some religious holidays (but they are very particular that each religion gets equal numbers of banners). I imagine a very small number of restaurants might close, but I was there during that time period once, and nowhere that I wanted to go was closed.

In short, the experience will be exactly like if you went to NYC during Eid.
posted by 100kb at 10:02 AM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: There's a public holiday for Hari Raya Pusa on the 8th of August, which is right before our National Day on the 9th, so there will be lots of local people taking long weekends off work. That means touristy stuff will be crowded and very very small businesses might be closed, but until the Hari Raya Haji on October 15th, another public holiday, Eid is basically a private religious observation. Almost all businesses will carry on as normal. If you're around for the start or end, the mosques have big feasts and so on, but outside of the Arab Street and Geylang Serai, the traditional ethnic Malay enclaves, it doesn't register. Both those places are great fun to visit for the holidays in the early evenings because of the bustling temporary night markets (pasar malams) and decorations.

The only time some businesses really close is for one day for Chinese New Year, and that's because of manpower issues because so many people are doing reunion dinners the first day.
posted by viggorlijah at 2:51 PM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

Yep, nothing much is going to be different. Have a good time, welcome to our beautiful city!
posted by undue influence at 1:36 AM on May 23, 2013