All You Need to Know About Shopping in Singapore

Singapore packs the most malls per square mile within its tiny interior - making this island-state the best place in Southeast Asia to go shopping. Singaporeans have turned shopping into the national sport - they do get a lot of practice, what with the many shopping centers lining Orchard Road, the street markets in Chinatown and Bugis, and the underground malls tunneling beneath the City Hall district.

Shopping is so popular in Singapore, they've set aside a whole month to celebrate it - the Great Singapore Sale slashes prices island-wide by as much as 70%! Shopping hours are also extended past midnight for selected stores on selected weekends, and other major promotions are held during this time of the year only.

Tax-Free Shopping in Singapore

Visitors to Singapore can shop tax free - while Singapore shops do charge a 7% Goods and Services Tax (GST), stores let tourists redeem taxes upon departure. The following article explains how you can shop tax-free in Singapore, together with useful tips and links.

Money in Singapore

As Singapore is a major financial center in the region, the country's banking sector is so artfully arranged to provide the maximum convenience for shoppers from all over, with moneychangers, internationally-networked ATMs, and banks operating at extended business hours.

The following article explores Singapore's money situation: its banks, moneychangers, and credit cards, together with money tips and useful spending suggestions for travelers in Singapore.

Shopping Precincts in Singapore

Orchard Road is where the world goes to shop when in Singapore! The island-state's primary retail district is a shopper's dream: a long, leafy stretch of shopping centers strung end to end, with warrens of stores numbering in the thousands!

You can get anything here in Orchard - expensive fashion labels and street wear, cutting-edge fashion and pre-loved vintage wear, DVDs, books, electronics, food, you name it.

The City Hall and Marina Bay area houses not just the city's most prominent historical sites, it contains some of its finest shopping areas, too. Tech geeks go to Funan DigitalLife Mall for their latest gear, while fashionistas get their fashion fix in Suntec City or Marina Square.

Bugis used to be a hang-out for transvestites, but after a major cleanup, the place has transformed itself into a major shopping spot for teens and teens-at-heart. A row of shophouses has been renovated into the air-conditioned complex known as Bugis Junction, and the Bugis Street market across the road offers a great flea-market experience.

Chinatown retains its historical color as an enclave for traditional Chinese arts and crafts, with an expanded range of handicrafts, clothes, food, jewelry, and medicine sold from renovated Chinese shophouses. Street markets on Smith Street and Trengganu Street offer great bargains on souvenirs.

Little India, centered around Serangoon Road, caters to the local Indian population, and offers a magnificent range of spices, jewelry, clothes, textiles, and handicrafts. Mustafa Centre on one end of Serangoon Road is a great source for cheap electronics.

Holland Village is the unofficial cultural center for Singapore's huge expat population, with shopping that caters to the East and the West in equal measure.

(Source: Website of GoSEAsia, by Michael Aquino)