Big Noises in Little China

Around Chinese New Year, Singapore's Chinatown begins to take on a hallucinatory aspect. It could be the extra crowds milling around, buying bakkwa like their lives depended on it. It could be the Chinese New Year decorations. It could be the way that, just like Christmas, Chinese New Year starts earlier and earlier. There's another two weeks to go, and there's already been almost two weeks filled with noise. After a while, you begin to imagine that it will never stop, that it will be Chinese New Year for 365 days, that they'll never stop with the lion dances and the banging of drums and the high pitched opera.