$25k Christmas decorations for one Singapore private home

The glow of Xmas at home for $25k
Tiffany Ong, Straits Times 22 Dec 07;

[wildnews comment: While Hong Kongers Say Bah Humbug to Christmas Lights, PlanetArk 20 Dec 07]

MR JULIUS Louis' instructions were to make his boss' home glow as brightly as the Christmas light up on Orchard Road. Money was no object.

He turned to the contractor responsible for the Orchard Road light-up, but he could not do the job before the middle of this month. So the 40-year-old concierge for businessman Leonard Francis decided he would do the job himself.

He said: 'We have been decorating the house every Christmas, but my boss decided to make it exceptionally unique this year. He wanted to do it on a bigger scale, so he gave me a budget of $25,000 and told me to go ahead with it.'

The busy contractor suggested Mr Louis take a look in his warehouse for ideas. There Mr Louis found 70 boxes of icicle lights, and others shaped as bells and trees.

For the nativity scene, Mr Francis ordered statues from Italy through his church, which cost $7,800.

An electrician was engaged to put up the lights. But everything else, from the nativity scene to the reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh on the roof, Mr Louis installed himself.

He said his employer's grandfather used to string Christmas lights and beautiful decorations around the house and garden. Always having treasured those moments as a child, Mr Francis has continued the family tradition for his own children no matter where their home may be, added Mr Louis.

When The Straits Times visited yesterday, a minor traffic jam formed on the narrow road, as cars slowed down to have a second look.

It is such interest in the message of Christmas that his boss, a Catholic, wants to generate, said Mr Louis, adding: 'He wants the public to know that Christmas doesn't have to be spent with big crowds in Orchard Road. It can be spent at home, with one's family.'