GIANT cupcakes along pedestrian walkways, trees laden with gumdrops, and street lamps decorated as candy canes.

It may be a dream come true for children and those who enjoy such sights, but what has it got to do with Christmas?

Many Singaporeans look forward to the Orchard Road light-up every year, and some are often very critical whenever it falls short. They are no different when it comes to assessing this year's light-up, which is given the theme: A Sweet Christmas In Singapore.

The unusual concept by Dick Lee has so far attracted a fair share of brickbats from Singaporeans, who have written to The Straits Times saying that it 'lacks the Christmas spirit' and is 'extremely disappointing'.

A poll of 100 Singaporeans by The New Paper on Sunday also lends support to such criticism, because more than half of them dislike the light-up.

One of them, Miss Li Yulin, 24, a research executive, said: 'The decorations don't remind me of Christmas because they're too bright. I would prefer decorations that create an atmosphere of winter.

'I hate it. It looks as if it was done with a low budget.'

Yet, tourists didn't share the same view, as a separate poll reveals.

When The New Paper on Sunday interviewed 100 tourists as they strolled down Orchard Road this week, nine in every 10 gave the light-up a big thumbs-up.

One of them, Ms Stella Cahilo, 24, who was from Ireland, liked the decorations so much that she gave it '10 out of 10'.

'When I read in the paper that some people didn't like the decorations, I was, like, 'Why are they saying this?'

'I think the decorations are lovely. The street lamps decorated as candy canes are so original.'

Another tourist, Mrs Leonie Murray, 60, a nurse, had even specially come to Singapore with her husband from Australia to see the Christmas lights.

She said: 'I love it, I love it, I love it. There can never be too much of these lights and decorations.'

Ms Jane Chang, a spokesman for Chan Brothers Travel, said that tourists would usually have a positive response to local festivities.

'When you are on a holiday in a foreign country, you are always more aware of the surroundings and appreciative of ongoing celebrations,' she said.

'Moreover, the tourists have chosen specifically to spend their Christmas holidays in Singapore, thus they will certainly be more receptive towards our Christmas light-up than the locals.'

Wishing for winter

Taxi driver Thomas Woo, 58, said: 'Most of the foreigners I pick up say that the lights are quite pretty, and they like the festive feel. But locals do not like it as much. They prefer blue and white lighting, because it's cooler. It's as though winter has arrived in Singapore.'

Mr Woo is not the only one to make that observation.

One reason why the Christmas light-up cuts no ice with Singaporeans is that they feel that it does not have traditional features such as Santa Claus, reindeer and snow.

Singaporeans, such as student Elizabeth Quek, 18, expect to 'enjoy the feeling of winter' in Orchard Road in December.

She said: 'This year's decoration looks more like spider webs'.

Ms Rohani Ahmad, 31, who is unemployed, said: 'It's just not as glamorous as last year, with everything along Orchard Road dripping in gold. Maybe it's a sign of the times. The gold has disappeared this year'.

However, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said that the budget for this year's Christmas light-up is 'comparable to that of previous years'.

Ms Geraldine Yeo, STB's director of leisure marketing and events management, said the design and contractor teams went to great lengths to source for the materials and decorative items.

'Every item, ranging from a small lollipop to the icing on the cupcake houses, is painstakingly designed and crafted.

'The figurines of the Sweet Family featured in the set pieces are all handcrafted and painted by our contractor's in-house artists. The gumdrops and sweets, ribbons and twigs are fabricated locally using imported materials.'

So, is it possible to do a light-up that will please Singaporeans and foreigners?

Senior lecturer Cheah Kok Ming, from National University of Singapore's department of architecture, said: 'I don't think the designers should go too avant garde, but they can adopt something that people can recognise as part of the festive tradition. For example, we could use the motif of the orchid to integrate the lights.'

- Additional reporting by Kueh Xiu Qing, Navin Vijay Wadhwani and SonikaKaurDhaliwal

Boo-boos of Christmas past

2005: Large bow resembling the God of Fortune's hat on top of the 'Season's Greetings' arch at the Orchard Road/ Scotts Road junction had some wondering why they were celebrating Chinese New Year during Christmas.

While Singaporeans understood that Christmas decorations could be designed for Chinese New Year, giving Santa a Chinese hat was 'stretching things a little too far'.

1990: Then-Mandarin Hotel's Christmas decoration, a polystyrene goat clad in Santa Claus' red suit, made some people see red.

The Santa-Goat, part of a herd of 20, was meant to blend East and West as the following year was Year of the Goat in the Chinese calendar.

But some people were upset by it because the goat is also a symbol of Satan to some Christians.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Dec7, 2008.