Tamil New Year Greetings

Hello everyone,

Today is the first day of the Tamil Calendar year "Virodhi". Today is also known as "Chitthirai Perunaal". Chitthirai is the first month of the calendar year. While the dispute of whether Chitthirai first should be considered as Tamil New Year or Thai first should be considered as Tamil New Year continues, we will just celebrate first. Let the debate continue. Irrespective of whether it is "Chitthirai Thirunaal" or "Tamil New Year", my wishes to all my Tamil readers for a happy and prosperous life on this special day.

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Singapore Public Holidays 2009

Singapore has a fixed number of holidays for every year. The official holidays are for eleven days a year, even though unofficially most of the companies provide few more holidays during the Chinese New Year period. Singaporeans, most of them, also get half-day off during Christmas Eve, New Year Eve, Deepavali Eve (for Hindus) and Hari Raya Eve (for Muslims). If a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday will be considered as a holiday. 

The following is the list of public holidays in Singapore for the year 2009.

1. January 1, Thursday - New Year
2. January 26, Monday - Chinese New Year First Day
3. January 27, Tuesday - Chinese New Year Second Day
4. April 10, Friday - Good Friday
5. May 1, Friday - Labour Day
6. May 9, Saturday - Vesak Day
7. August 9, Sunday - National Day (Aug 10 will be a holiday in lieu)
8. September 20, Sunday - Hari Raya Aidilfitri (Sep 21 will be a holiday in lieu)
9. November 15, Sunday - Deepavali (Nov 16 will be a holiday in lieu)
10.November 27, Friday - Hari Raya Haji
11.December 25, Friday - Christmas

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Happy Deepavali

I wish all my readers a Happy Deepavali.

Deepavali (Festival of Lights) is a significant festival celebrated in India, to signify the triumph of good over the evil. The festival is known as Deepavali in South India while North Indians normally call it as Diwali. The celebrations in South India revolves around Lord Krishna destroying Narakasuran, where as the celebrations in North India is about Rama's return to Ayodhya after the killing of Ravana. The North Indians celebrate Diwali the day after South Indians celebrate Deepavali.

Deepavali is celebrated with much interest and enthusiasm in Singapore. In Singapore, it is a national holiday. In India, we used to have a Deepavali with sound of crackers resonating throughout the season. In Singapore, it will be a muted celebration due to the restriction on the crackers that can be used. While it is a sound and light show in India, it is purely a light show in Singapore.

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