By Monica Kotwani | Posted:
31 January 2011 1954 hrs
SINGAPORE : The wet weather the past two days has
affected businesses, travellers and shoppers.
Businesses along Orchard Road were expecting huge crowds of
shoppers over the last weekend before Lunar New Year.
But they were sorely disappointed.
One business owner at Lucky Plaza said: "I think this is unusual.
Normally we see more crowds, but now I can see that even (during
this) Chinese New Year period, there are no people on Orchard
Road."
Another business owner at Lucky Plaza said: "This year, it is
really quiet. Hopefully we will get a better crowd, but the rain is
killing us, frankly speaking. I think the people in Chinatown are
complaining. Last year it was a lot better."
Some florists and nurseries Channel NewsAsia spoke to said business
dipped by about 20 per cent. But most are confident it will pick up
soon.
James Koh, co-partner of Hawaii Landscape, said: "There is a slight
slowdown, of course. (The rain has) been continuous for about two
nights. Other than that, people are still coming. They still keep
on coming with their umbrellas."
But there was a bright side for some shoppers.
One shopper at Far East Flora, Calvin Tan, said: "(The rain has
helped me.) Since fewer people are coming, I managed to get a
parking lot. Normally it is worse than this."
Tourists too felt the dampener in the festive mood.
One couple from the UK said: "We wanted to do some sightseeing, we
went on a tour yesterday. It rained. We could not see anything from
the coach. We got out, we were dripping wet. We go home today. We
were here for three days. It is a shame."
Train services to and from Malaysia and Singapore have also been
disrupted for a second day.
Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) said eight services to and from
Singapore to various parts of Malaysia have been disrupted because
tracks are unsafe because of floods in Johor.
Of these, two trains to and from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have
been cancelled.
Train services travelling to and from Singapore and Butterworth in
Penang are now operating only to and from Kuala Lumpur to
Butterworth.
But despite the floods which have cut off some roads to towns such
as Muar, Segamat and Labis, coach services seem to be
operating.
Travel agencies told Channel NewsAsia that there has been a 30-40
per cent increase in queries and last-minute bookings to
Malaysia.
- CNA/ms