Christmas wonder returns to Woodlands with European-style wooden house, reindeer

SINGAPORE: It was less than a month to Christmas and carpenter Tan Koon Tat was busy at his workshop putting the finishing touches to this year's festive display. 

Known for his bright and cheery decorations during holidays such as Deepavali and Hari Raya, Mr Tan lamented to this reporter about the rising cost of materials this year. But the 62-year-old was still determined to bring some festive cheer to the neighbourhood.

This would be the first time since the pandemic broke out that he is putting up decorations of this scale. 

But another challenge awaited – bad weather. Due to the rain, it would be another few weeks before he managed to put up his Christmas display at the open field in front of Block 178, Woodlands Street 13.

On Dec 22, three days before Christmas, his work was finally complete.

The star attraction this year is a European-style wooden cottage – lit from within – accompanied by several Christmas trees. 

Tinsel and fairy lights dangle from the covered walkway between blocks near the open-air car park, and decorative presents hang from the pillars. More presents lie under a Christmas tree adjacent to the walkway while a short walk down, reindeer that made an appearance in previous years lay on the ground in front of more gift boxes. 

All these are set to dazzle the eyes of delighted residents who walk by at night. 

Speaking to CNA in early December from his Admiralty workshop, Mr Tan said in Mandarin that he was keen to return to the field. 

"In 2020, there was COVID-19, so the decorations stopped. Last year, restrictions loosened a bit so I did some presents as decorations. 

"This year, I saw that restrictions loosened even more and then children can get vaccinated so I wanted to do a bigger wooden house for the children to be happy."

Last year, to limit the festivities, Mr Tan used a smaller grass verge near the outdoor car park at Block 179 to display large gift boxes surrounded by a family of reindeer.

Residents crossing the blocks were greeted by tinsel and fairy lights hanging from roof shelters on both sides of the road. In an adjacent walkway, Mr Tan placed a row of Christmas trees bedecked with ornaments.  

At night, all of these were lit up in a brilliant display. But the decorations were spaced out to prevent crowding due to COVID-19 concerns. 

There are no such qualms this December.

Mr Tan's well-loved snow machine is also expected to make an appearance this year. 

He declined to reveal how much the decorations cost him, instead sharing the challenges of the rising cost of materials, which spurred him to try to make use of past decorations. 

"I can only use some of the previous materials I kept and revamp them, and transform it into a house with a new lease of life," said Mr Tan, who last made these European-inspired cottages in 2017. But the cottage this year has textured walls instead of planks joined at the edges like before, he said.

He also had to repair some reindeer – whose antlers have come loose and fallen off. 

"Every time they come back it's like they have gone through war," Mr Tan joked. 

His efforts have been hampered by the unpredictable weather. He had planned to construct the platform base at the start of December, but could only start in mid-December due to the rain. 

It has been so long since Mr Tan, a father of three grown children, started putting up decorations around the neighbourhood that he cannot remember the exact year, but said it was about 10 to 20 years ago. 

He started doing it in remembrance of his kampung days, where every holiday was celebrated collectively by different ethnicities.
 
"Now we stay in HDB flats, it's like all the atmosphere has disappeared. All the festivals there is nothing, only public holidays. So after that I thought why not I do festive decorations so then people will look at it and understand what festival it is, like 'Oh it's Christmas, oh it's National Day'."

His motivation comes from seeing the smiles of happy children, Mr Tan said. 

He noted how some parents are busy at work and are unable to bring their children overseas – so they would have something else to look forward to in his ornaments and baubles.   

"I thought why not if I can do it annually, I will do up some Christmas decorations for festive cheer so that children can experience it and I can give them a memory of the festivities. 

"And seeing their happy smiles is my driving force and motivation."

Those who want to see Mr Tan's Christmas decorations should do so before the end of December, as he plans to remove them right after New Year's Day to make way for Chinese New Year, which comes early next year. 

Decorating for Chinese New Year should be easier as there is a greater variety of options for that holiday, said Mr Tan. He has already sourced decorations recycled from this year's Mid-Autumn Festival in Chinatown in preparation – a sneak peek of what's to come.