The roads up Singapore’s Mount Faber must have been busier on Saturday the 25th of November than on an ordinary Saturday, as 1100 people visited the Christmas Bazaar at the Danish Seamen’s Church. The Bazaar was first held at the Church in 1984 and the last couple of years the number of visitors has been declining, but this year 300-400 people more than last year turned up.
Obviously reverend Hans Vestergaard Jensen is very pleased with 50 per cent more visitors than last year and he sees a couple of reasons for the increased number of guests.
“There are more Danes in Singapore now than a year ago, as 300 Danes have moved here within the last six months and I am happy to see that a lot of them found their way to the Bazaar,” Hans Vestergaard Jensen explains.
But that is not the only reason. Because of the threat of terror the church did not do a lot of advertising the last couple of years, which meant fewer visitors.
“Some of the people who used to come to the Bazaar left Singapore and due to very limited advertising newcomers to Singapore were not aware of the Bazaar taking place and that resulted in fewer visitors,” the reverend explains.
However this year the Church made more advertising and that obviously paid off. The 1100 guests had a chance to shop for Christmas. The stalls offered a large variety of Christmas articles such as traditional Danish Christmas decorations, candles and Danish delicacies such as “remoulade”, candy, herrings and liver pâté obviously to the liking of the visitors. Hans Vestergaard Jensen explains that the stalls sold for 7-8000 Sgd more than last year.
A new invention at the Christmas Bazaar this year was the Gourmet Corner, which turned out to be a big success. The Gourmet Corner offered homemade delicacies such as rye bread, “rullepølse” and cookies. All delicacies were made by friends of the Church.
“The sale from the Gourmet Corner has yet to be calculated, but I think it went very well. A lot of people stopped by to buy some of the traditional Danish delicacies that you find very few places in SEA,” Hans Vestergaard Jensen explains.
After the shopping the kids could visit the Children’s corner to get their faces painted or to get a nice tattoo, and friends could meet in the restaurant to enjoy the company and the Danish smørrebrød (open sandwiches).
“We also had hot dogs and lots more for sale in the restaurant, so if anybody left the Bazaar with an empty stomach they have only themselves to blame,” the reverend laughs.
