Shopping tips for Singapore

Choice and convenience make the Singapore shopping experience a rewarding one, but the island’s affluence and strong currency mean most things are priced at Western levels. Perhaps the best time to bargain-hunt is during the Great Singapore Sale (from late May to late July; w gss.sra.org.sg), when prices are marked down across the island. Unsurprisingly, Orchard Road boasts the biggest cluster of malls, bulging with designer names. Malls elsewhere tend to be more informal; the most interesting ones in Chinatown are like multistorey markets, home to a few traditional outlets stocking Chinese foodstuffs, medicines, instruments and porcelain. Singapore’s remaining shophouses are worthy of attention too, as many are still home to independent stores selling books, jewellery, souvenirs and so on.