OVERSEAS HOLIDAYS ARE now more of a norm than an exception, with family discussions likely to include whether to stay in Asia or head out to Iceland or South America over the school holiday breaks.

Before the concept of a staycation became a trend on its own, Singaporeans in the early post-independence days did just that. Air travel was a super luxury, so a holiday meant spending time out with friends and family strolling the grounds of the Istana, packing a picnic basket for an afternoon at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, or camping on Changi Beach.

Staycations were not spent at stylish boutique hotels either, but in chalets such as the NTUC Holiday Complex at Changi Point, or the Golden Palace Holiday Resort which also had restaurants, a fishing pond and a golden pagoda on its premises.