Good Grief! It's the end of December!

Honest to goodness where did the months go to? 'Tis 2 days to Christmas Eve it tis.....

I just realised that the last posting I wrote was in July! Ah well....better late than never I guess.

Since July, the world has seen massive economic changes, huge corporations have gone down, tens of thousands of people have been retrenched and many people are going to have a poor Christmas and Chinese new Year this time around :( Malaysia saw a very quiet Hari Raya Haji and hardly anyone has been shopping for Christmas. It's just 3 days...I mean 2 days away in fifteen minutes (Almost midnight now) and there is a pronounced silence in the mall where I work.

I was in Kuala Lumpur a few days back and the Xmas decor at the Pavilion was all white and gold. Really classy but there was no warmth to it, no mood at all and there were not many shoppers too. Mid Valley Megamall had crowds and that's because the management there actually made the atmosphere Christmassy with their giantic Christmas tree and decorations. They didn't cut down on their budget, in fact I say that this must have been their BEST in all the years! It was WONDERFUL to see all the beautiful beautiful decorations and listen to all that Christmas songs and see all the lights...and all the hustle and bustle of people...a real sight for tired weary eyes....no where else had this festive feeling and the whole place made people want to shop and laugh and give and eat and smile and nod and greet......

Just a year ago, this kind of set-up was at every street corner and I guess everyone just took this kind of feeling for granted as all shops and malls would be dishing up the same atmosphere for the year-end holiday season. Who would have ever thought that in just one year, we'd have to look this hard to find the Christmas spirit?

I wonder what Chinese New Year 2009 would be like in terms of festivities?