A Christmas Past

Christmas wasn't always celebrated nationwide. In 1970, setting up a tree in People's Park Complex was a big deal. It was made of cardboard, stood at 35 feet and cost $3000. Compare that to now, when Christmas sees the city festooned in extravagant decor - even if its origins are neglected. While Christmas is a religious event to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, it is the bright and shiny secular version which you see in Orchard Road, where the Christmas light-up has brought a festive atmosphere to the city since the 80s.

It was also around the 80s that buildings started dolling up for the season. More Christmas trees could be found in hotel lobbies and shopping centres. Pine-scented sprays were used on plastic trees to help them smell alive. Browse the National Archives of Singapore online and you may find pictures of lights at the junction of Orchard Road and Scotts Road in 1985. In those photographs, almost all the bulbs strung across trees and along buildings were glaringly yellow - either a function of poorly adjusted camera aperture or an aching lack of colour imagination.

Three decades later, there has been greater use of colour and images. This is especially so this year, with the Orchard Road Business Association partnering Disney to "brand" its Christmas lights before you can say, "Watt?"