Reunion Dinner

“My mum wasn’t too happy when I told her my plans but she came round in the end,” said Esther Wee, a 32-year-old accountant, who is flying to Melbourne to meet friends for the four-day break. “We booked the flights months ago when I got my bonus. Everyone has the same idea of going for a holiday.”

Singaporeans are skipping reunion dinners and packing flights of Singapore Airlines Ltd., Jetstar Asia Airways Pte and AirAsia Bhd. as rising wealth and a stronger currency make trips abroad more affordable in the Year of the Rabbit, which begins tomorrow. Last year’s record economic growth of 14.7 percent created 112,500 new jobs and pushed up wages by an average 5 percent in the first nine months.

Outbound travel during the New Year period is expected to be 10 percent higher than in 2010, according to Robert Khoo, chief executive officer of Singapore’s National Association of Travel Agents.

“People feel better about their jobs, they have income and they have discretionary spending,” said Song Seng-Wun, an economist at CIMB Research Pte. in Singapore. “The middle class are finding that they’re having more money in their pockets.”

Singapore’s employers are raising wages to retain skilled workers in a market where job vacancies rose 36 percent to 50,200 in the year ended September. Half of all households have an average monthly income of at least S$6,599 ($5,175) compared with about S$5,884 in 2007.

The Singapore dollar appreciated about 12 percent against the euro, 10 percent versus the British pound and 11 percent against the U.S. dollar in the past 12 months as well as gaining against most of its regional counterparts.

Singapore-based Jetstar Asia, part-owned by Qantas Airways Ltd., has “completely sold out” of seats for many routes on peak travel days during the holiday, said Leslie Ng, regional general sales manager. Popular destinations include cities in China, where millions of residents will brave snowstorms and pack trains, airplanes and buses to travel home for the Lunar New Year. Flights leaving for Bangkok, Bali and Phuket are full, Ng said.

“Demand for flights during the Chinese New Year period tends to be good and this year is no exception,” said Nicholas Ionides, a spokesman for Singapore Airlines, the world’s second- biggest carrier by market value. Nazatul Ekma Mokhtar, spokesman for AirAsia, said the Selangor, Malaysia-based airline’s most popular routes from Singapore are to Bali, Kuala Lumpur and nearby Penang, where a fourth daily flight was added to meet the New Year demand.

The island-state’s residents made more than 5.7 million trips in the first 10 months of 2010, a 7 percent increase from the same period a year earlier, according to the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority. The figures don’t include departures by land over the two road links to Malaysia, which the authority said are expected to have heavy traffic throughout the holiday.

“Business is good this year and we see more people traveling,” said Abdul Haleem, who handles about S$250,000 in currency transactions daily at City Money Changers in Singapore’s central business district. “Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia are the most popular but we’re also seeing a lot of demand for Australia and China,” he said.

Singapore boasts the highest proportion of millionaire households, which is defined as investable assets of more than $1 million, according to the Boston Consulting Group.

“Wealthy individuals are making frequent short holidays to countries in Europe and the United States to catch certain musical acts or shop,” said Mabel Chua, Singapore-based managing director at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management.

For Singaporeans not traveling, many are skipping the traditional home-cooked feast and dining out instead. Tung Lok Restaurants (2000) Ltd. said it is fully booked today and the company expects to serve “tens of thousands” of customers at its 30 restaurants in Singapore in the next two weeks.

“Business is set to be better than the past two years,” Tung Lok Executive Chairman Andrew Tjioe said. “From the bookings for the Chinese New Year period so far, customers are opting for higher-priced menus. This is a good sign that the economy is picking up.”

At Shangri-La Asia Ltd.’s Singapore hotel, an eight-course meal for 10 featuring delicacies such as bird’s nest, braised abalone, wok-fried wagyu beef and asparagus with gold foil costs S$8,888.88. The number 8 is considered lucky for the Chinese because it sounds like the word for fortune.

“Go holiday for what?” said taxi driver Leong See Kiat, 43, in the local English dialect. He gathered his family for a reunion dinner a week early so he could work on the eve of the New Year. “Make money more important. This is the best time.”

Singapore’s two casinos are hoping to lure those looking to augment their wealth at the gaming tables. Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s Marina Bay Sands has hired the traditional noisy lion and dragon dancers to “spread good luck and fortune” from the hotel lobby and casino to the sky park 200 meters above.

Genting Singapore Plc’s Resorts World said festivities will feature a 13.8-meter topiary rabbit, Shaolin monks and martial artists performing to a hip-hop beat. Genting’s Singapore casino opened on the first day of the Lunar New Year last year, attracting 60,000 visitors in its first three days.

“I’ve a quick reunion with in-laws here,” said CIMB Research’s Song. “Then I and a group of friends jump on a plane and go to Japan.”

story by: Shamim Adam-in Singapore