Christmas Gifts in Singapore

Many Christmas lunches in Singapore bring together Christian, Buddhist, Taoist, Muslim, Hindu and non-religious friends and family. 

If you're not sure whether someone celebrates, "Season's greetings" or "Happy holidays" is the safe choice, and a card without the nativity on it suits everyone. 

Gifts for the home, like bed sheets, towels or an eye mask, suit everyone without saying anything about belief.

MUIS says Muslims are encouraged to share food, exchange gifts and wish each other good will, so a Christmas gift for a Muslim friend is welcome. Halal certification can cover any product, but in practice it is food and drink you need to check: a bedding or bath essential raises no halal question. 

If you add a hamper, cookies or chocolates, choose halal-certified ones (MUIS-certified or carrying a foreign certificate MUIS recognises) and leave out pork, ham and anything with alcohol.

• Alcohol and pork, to Muslim friends and their families, hampers included: ham and pork gelatine count.
• Leather, to Hindu friends and relatives: cowhide is avoided, so leave leather goods out of a hamper. Nothing on this page is leather.
• Clocks, to older Chinese relatives: the phrase for giving a clock sounds like attending a funeral.
• Knives, scissors and other sharp objects, to Chinese friends and relatives, older ones especially: they suggest cutting ties.
• Towels, to some older Chinese relatives: towels are handed out at Chinese funerals to those who follow the procession, so a few older relatives will read them as unlucky.
• Gifts that are largely white or black, to some older Chinese relatives at Chinese New Year, where white is a mourning colour. For a TENCEL™ bed sheet set that carries through to the February visits without a second thought, choose Sand Taupe or Midnight Blue.

Give the Weavve E-Gift Card when you don't know their bed size, their colours or whether they already own a set. It comes in S$50 steps from S$50 to S$300, arrives by email with no extra fees, and has a "Starting This Season With Extra Cheer" design for Christmas.

With the aircon running until morning, they want a sheet that feels cool and silky rather than heavy. 

Signature TENCEL™ is woven from 100% Lenzing TENCEL™ Lyocell in a smooth sateen. Point them to a Signature TENCEL™ Fitted Sheet Set in a colour that suits their room.

Some people run warm even with the aircon on, and the blanket ends up on the floor. 

A lighter layer helps: an extra breathable TENCEL™ bedsheet set or a lightweight TENCEL™  duvet gives them a cool hand feel to keep night sweats at bay.

They will have a full table on 25 December and a stream of relatives on 6 and 7 February, some of them older relatives who may read a towel as a funeral gift. 

A TENCEL™ Lyocell Waterproof Mattress Protector for the spare bed, or a Signature TENCEL™ Classic Set for the room the relatives sleep in, serves both occasions and raises no eyebrows.

This is a thank-you, not a welcome, so keep it small and easy to hand over at the door of the next unit or in the condo lift lobby. 

Our Dream Pillow Mist or a Soy Candle says thanks without asking them to return the favour.

Many friends who don't celebrate are glad to be wished a merry Christmas, but when you're not sure, "Season's greetings" or "Happy holidays" on the card can't misfire. 

Choose something with no Christmas imagery: a vegan silk eye mask or a pair of TENCEL™ pillowcases carries no symbol at all and gets used every night the aircon is on.

The spare room is often the one with the old sheets and the noisy aircon, and after a few years abroad they are no longer used to the heat and humidity. 

Cooling bedsheets and quick-dry towels make it a proper guest room for the whole stay, and through Chinese New Year if they stay on.

Sleeping in the day means fighting the light and the noise of a flat that is awake around you. 

The Dream Vegan Silk Eye Mask takes care of the light, with soft vegan silk and an adjustable strap, and a Weighted Blanket takes care of the rest, settling the body into a deeper sleep after a shift.

They have the sofa, the sound system and the robot vacuum, but the bed in their four-room flat is still on the same sheets they bought at the BTO key collection. 

A luxurious bedsheet set, a cooling duvet, or a waterproof mattress protector is the one upgrade they probably haven't made yet, and it goes on a bed they already own.

A blanket for movie nights in the aircon, or home scents for the living room, keeps them settled in. This is perfect for weeks at home with the kids, which means long evenings on the bed and the sofa. 

A towel that sits damp in a gym bag from the morning workout to the evening train home starts to smell. The face towel in a Silver Infused Towel Bundle is treated to eliminate up to 99% of odour-causing bacteria, so it holds up through the day.