The Portal

The weather TODAY: Showers with thunder expected in the afternoon mainly over northern, central and eastern Singapore. High tide 1.22 am 2.7m 12.39 pm 3.0m Sunrise 7.17 am Sunset 7.21 pm Moonrise 9.17 am Moonset 9.37 pm PSI: 36 (good) Temp: 23-32 degrees Celsius

FRONT PAGES:

Yesterday Feb 2000 Jan 2000 Dec 1999 Nov 1999

Currency Converter Singapore Currency Notes My E-mail

Get For Me: How Chinese New Year is spent

On the first day of the Chinese New Year, we would wake up bright and early, and then put on our new clothes, bought the previous week or earlier. For some dialects, eg. the Hokkiens, a meal of MEE SUA soup (rice vermicelli) with a hard boiled egg or two is the norm. We could then greet our elders at home and wish them Kiong Hee Whatt Chai (Dialect) or Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin). For those whose grandparents are staying elsewhere, the first visit in the morning is usually to the grandparents' home. Next on the cards are visits to the homes of immediate family members, such as married brothers or sisters as well as paternal uncles or aunts. These visits will take the whole morning and part of the afternoon to complete.

On arrival at the host's home, visitors have to present two Mandarin oranges to the host and his spouse. On leaving the place, the host must present the visitors with two different Mandarin oranges for them to take back. Of course, if the visitors go to several homes, the same set of oranges is exchanged over and over again. Such is the custom during the Chinese New Year. Of course, the young and the unmarried (no matter what the age is) get red packets called ANG POWs containing cash from the married host. It is customary for the recipient of the ANG POW to accept the ANG POW and say KIONG HEE WHATT CHAI or GONG XI FA CAI (meaning Wishing you a happy and prosperous new year). In place of such greetings, a simple THANK YOU will suffice.

Then, it's back home for a rest and later a friendly game of cards, such as Blackjack. We Chinese like to dabble in such games at Chinese New Year. Hoops! We have forgotten to take lunch. The shops and eateries are all closed today, except for fast food restaurants, such as McDonald's, and hotel restaurants. However, there is enough food leftover from the previous day to keep us fed.

The second day of the Chinese New Year is usually spent waiting for guests, such as relatives and friends, to visit us. Again, it's time for another round of card games. The shops and eateries are also closed today. The fresh food bought the last few days and kept in the fridge is prepared and cooked.

Finally, on the third day, we visit our friends and distant relatives. Here goes more rounds of card games. At night, dinner includes braised duck with sea cucumber, a favourite dish at New Year.

POLL: Do you like our new RED colour? Tell us. Click HERE.

NEW: New M1 shop opens at #B1-19/20 Paragon Shopping Centre. Other branches are at #B1-18-19 Tampines Mall and #01-16-17 West Mall.

NATIONAL SERVICE: Central Manpower Base (CMPB) National service registration starts on Monday 31 Jan 2000 for all male Singapore citizens and permanent residents (PRs) born on or between 14 Jun 1982 and 12 Sep 1982, and ends on 10 Mar 2000.

GET FOR ME: Save the ACS (Anglo Chinese School) clock tower An appeal for support.

BOOKS: Top Ten KINOKUNIYA Bestsellers Top Ten MPH Bestsellers Top Ten BORDERS Bestsellers Top Ten TIMES Bestsellers Shows the top ten fiction and non-fiction titles sold at these bookstores last week.

SHOWS: Top Ten Shows Features the current popular movies screened in local cinemas. Movies Lists the current movies showing in local cinemas.

GOVERNMENT: Singapore Government Website Ministry Of Education Police

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: Low Lying Areas In Singapore Lists the flood-prone areas in Singapore. Things you should know Tells you things you need to be aware of.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: We are now hosted with WEBVISIONS.COM.

EXPATRIATES: EscapeArtist.Com The website on overseas living for international job seekers and expatriates. ExpatSingapore For expatriates planning to relocate to Singapore. Provides excellent information on Singapore. ContactSingapore Step-by-step guide to applying for a job, getting an employment pass, remuneration structure and corporate culture.

TOURISTS: Tourism Board

USEFUL WEBSITES: AtoZasia.com For jobs, properties, shopping, food and auctions. Catcha.com.sg A Singapore search engine.

GET FOR ME: New Books

ON SALE NOW AT LEADING BOOKSTORES

Singapore: A Pictorial History 1819-2000

By Gretchen Liu

Price: S$61.70 (excludes shipping)

You may place your order with us at support@getforme.com.

The road shown on the front cover was Holloway Lane. It has recently gone the way of the Dodo and in its place is an open ground awaiting redevelopment. In the background is St Joseph's Church in Queen's Street.

The picture of the front cover of the book has been posted here with the kind permission of the publisher, Editions Didier Millet Singapore.

Search, discover and win S$500 cash. Every month.

Join Lycos Asia's online quiz at www.lycosasia.com.sg now.

In conjunction with the Millennium Dog Show, Lycos Asia is holding a homepage design contest at Tripod Asia, an online community of Lycos Asia network. Just build a site dedicated to your pet in Tripod Asia before 30 Jan 2000, and you could win S$1000 cash and a chance to walk away with an iMac in their lucky draw.

SINGNET'S FREE NET-SURF OFFER PACIFIC INTERNET'S REVISED PRICING

This website is updated daily between 12.00 am & 1.00 am Singapore time (+8 hours GMT).

ABOUT THIS WEBSITE | ADVERTISING WITH US | LISTING WITH US

Contact us at help@getforme.com

P.O. Box 162 Hougang Mall Post Office Singapore 915306 Tel: (65) 282 4221 Fax: (65) 281 4785. The business name getforme.com is registered in the Republic of Singapore under Certificate of Registration Number 52908811L

News Flash

Today Tuesday 8 Feb 2000

In Singapore

A 30-year-old man whose car crashed into a tree on Chinese New Year's eve died later the same day- at about the time his family was to have sat down for their reunion dinner.

A 27-year-old woman was raped while she was jogging at the Bukit Batok Nature Park on Sunday morning. She was believed to have been jogging close to Lorong Sesuai, which links the park to Upper Bukit Timah Road when she was attacked.

Today's The Straits Times newspaper is printed in red to celebrate the fact SPH's newspapers are now " more read than ever ." An independent survey has found that readership of Singapore's newspapers has increased by a whopping 18.3% over the previous year.

Asia

Bangkok: Thai police have charged an 18-year-old ribesman with murdering an Australian tourist and attempting to rape his friend after an ambush in a Thai mountain park, police said yesterday.

Around the world

Purchase, New York: US First Lady Rodham Hillary Clinton formally launched her Senate campaign on Sunday, declaring to New York voters, ' I may be new to your neighbourhood, but I'm not new to your concerns.'

San Francisco: IBM, the world's largest computer company, said it had developed a computer chip that ran up to five times faster than today's top chips, and consuming half the power.

Courtesy of The Straits Times

News updated by 8.00 am daily.

Singapore's water is clean and safe to drink from the tap. There is no need to boil it.

The Editor

Raymond Han

You can e-mail him at editor@getforme.com