Halloween in Singapore

How do you celebrate Halloween without pumpkins? Or easy access to “fun size” candy? What about when there is only one store that stocks the “off the shelf” Halloween costumes? Can you still “trick or treat” when it’s not a holiday widely recognized by the local community?

I never thought about these things until I moved to Singapore and celebrated my first Halloween abroad. Singapore has a large American community so it’s easier to celebrate here than in other places. In fact, Singapore is starting to really embrace Halloween. There are tons of businesses and community centers sponsoring celebrations but there are a few things I took for granted.

Jack-o-Lanterns

Real pumpkins are expensive and small in Singapore and not at all close to jack-o-lantern size. People get really creative and carve things like watermelons, papayas, and pineapples. The tropical heat is not kind to carved fruits so you have to keep them in the refrigerator when they aren’t lit. Even then, you will only get a couple of nights out of them.

I’ve yet to locate the fake pumpkins that you can carve but I keep hoping those will get popular. We also will either paint the small pumpkins or just decorate paper ones and hang them up.

Costumes

Thank goodness, my children are now capable of making their own costumes because I am not a crafty mom. You can find costumes here and it’s not too difficult but you have to plan to go early so you get the best selection.

If you have your heart set on something that you can’t find in Singapore, you can try Amazon. Amazon Singapore is decent but the selection and pricing are not as good as in the U.S.

One thing that Singapore has over the States, is affordable tailors. If you are not a crafty mom, like me, you can get a tailor to custom-make one for you.

Candy

During my first year in Singapore, this was my biggest headache. I didn’t know where to buy small individually wrapped candy. I could only find full-sized candy or bags of things like gummy bears. If you live in a more expat-friendly neighborhood, you can find a few more options but it’s nothing like the big bags we buy at Costco. I still have not seen the bite-sized candy bars that are standard trick-or-treat fare but it’s pretty workable but will cost a bit more.

This year, I ordered one of those huge bags from Amazon. This is a reasonable option but some of the chocolate did melt while it was being transported. I think we’ve all gotten used to that now so hopefully, my children won’t hold it against me. You have to keep candy in the refrigerator or a climate-controlled environment here or it just turns to mush.

Trick or treating

Singapore has a large American population with a sizable community located near the school. There is trick-or-treating in this neighborhood but it is a mob scene. Condo buildings with large expat communities will host their own trick-or-treating.

During the pandemic, there was no trick-or-treating. I ended up doing a candy scavenger hunt for my kids and now they want to keep doing it. This year, we’re inviting their friends over and doing the scavenger hunt at night with flashlights. It’s a tropical country so there may be a few geckos that get disturbed which will probably add to the experience.

Decorations

Decorations were much harder to find even two years ago. Now, you’ll find basic decorations at all the supermarkets and at Daiso (like a Japanese dollar store.) They don’t compare to the quality and range that you would see in Target or Walmart but it is better than nothing.

I chose not to pack my fall decorations to bring them to Singapore and I’ve kicked myself ever since. I thought they would be easy to replace here but they aren’t.

Several years ago, I remember trying to educate some European friends on what Halloween was. I was in Spain at the time and there was really nothing so I had to start from scratch. Thankfully, that is not the case in Singapore.

Now that I have children, I’m a little more concerned with how they view their experience. We don’t carve pumpkins or trick-or-treat anymore but we still dress up and eat a lot of candy. Isn’t that what Halloween is really about?