Chinese New Year exodus exposes Singapore generation gap

By Melissa Chia

SINGAPORE, Jan 30 (Reuters Life!) - Golden rat figurines and tasseled red lanterns are crammed into shophouse windows, and pre-recorded soundtracks of firecrackers echo off the walls.

Singapore's Chinatown presents the perfect image of a city in the grip of festivities for the Chinese lunar Year of the Rat. But duck into a back street travel agent and a different picture emerges.

"I don't care for the traditions and won't be visiting my relatives. I only see them once a year during Chinese New Year -- where's the connection there?" said one 25-year old student, who declined to be named and was bound for Hong Kong.

"It's a drag to visit people whom I hardly see in the year. I'd rather spend time with people I'm closer to. Some youngsters are just going visiting to receive the 'ang pao'," he said, referring to the red paper envelopes of money given by relatives.

Travel agent after travel agent confirms the trend.

Rather than spending New Year at home with extended families in what is traditionally the year's one guaranteed family reunion, Chinese Singaporeans, some 77 percent of the population, are fleeing their New Year in droves.

Opting out of cultural rituals to instead travel to hotspots such as Bangkok, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Taiwan is the Year of the Rat's hot ticket trend, despite seasonal price hikes.

"Last year they booked at the last minute, but this year all the tickets had been sold by January, so there is nothing else to sell now," said Steven Chan, manager at Giamso International Tours, one of dozens of Chinatown travel agencies.