Hari Raya Light Up at Geylang Serai Will Last till 23 May; Online Bazaar Launched

If you’ve ever been to the Geylang Serai Hari Raya Bazaar, you’ll know that it’s a place you can eat, drink, and shop for hours if you manage to find space to breathe.

The annual event draws large crowds every year with stalls that offer a vast array of food, beverages, festive clothing, and household decorations, as well as live auctions.

Sadly, because the coronavirus thrives in crowded places, the event was called off last year to reduce the risk of another COVID-19 outbreak.

And unfortunately for hungry residents, this year’s event was called off as well.

But it’s not all bad. We’ll still be able to buy some of the items we purchase every year, but this time, we’ll have to do it from our living room.

Online Bazaar Launched on Friday (9 Apr)

Bazaar-Kita.sg, the online bazaar introduced to replace the Geylang Serai one, was launched yesterday (9 Apr).

It will operate until 13 May, for the Hari Raya Puasa period.

Organised by Wisma Geylang Serai (WGS), the bazaar will bring together several social and community facilities.

In addition to festive clothing, delicious food, and delectable sweet treats, Bazaar-Kita also offers a wide range of programmes including music, comedy, cooking, baking, and exercise videos streamed on social media.

Annual Hari-Raya Light-up to Last till 23 May

While we won’t have our annual bazaar, we’ll still be able to see the streets of Geylang Serai bathed in a dazzling array of colours.

Like the online bazaar, the annual Hari Raya light-up began yesterday and will last till 23 May.

The lights will be switched on daily from 7pm to midnight, but will stay on till 6am on 12 May – the eve of Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

Starting at Paya Lebar Quarter, the forty colourful installations are stretched along a distance of 1.4km.

Some buildings along this line, such as WGS, Joo Chiat Complex, and Geylang Serai Market, have also been decorated to get people in a festive mood.

At the launch event on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat noted that while the bazaar had to be called off, the light-up is a step forward, as installations were only partially put up last year.

“It was a difficult decision, taken to safeguard the well-being of our people,” he said.

While we may not be able to get together in large numbers to celebrate, we should never lose our sense of community.

After all, the theme of this year’s light-up is “Celebrating Our Kampung Spirit”.

Featured Image: Facebook (The Straits Times)