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As the Year of the Ox approaches, Chinatown will literally paint the town red with its yearly decorations for the Chinese New Year festivities.

With the Covid-19 pandemic still in full-swing in some parts of the world, celebrations will be muted in Singapore, but the new year would still have to be ushered in.

And what better way to do that than to turn Chinatown into an animal farm.

This was the sight that greeted members of the public in Chinatown as early as Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021.

The herd of ox statues were seen sandwiched between Eu Tong Sen Street and New Bridge Road on the grass patch -- a sure sign that the authorities are not scrimping on decorations.

The ox were brought to the location via containers.

A majority of the ox were still covered in translucent plastic waiting to be unveiled.

There were brown and yellow statues of animals.

Public amused

Members of the public were tickled by the sight of so many animal statues gathered in one location in the middle of two busy roads.

One of the comments made in response to the scene was: "No safe distancing."

Chinese New Year in 2021 different

This year's Lunar New Year celebrations are set to look quite different from previous years', with the annual Chinatown bazaar called off due to concerns over crowd control.

Also, with Singapore currently in Phase 3, households will have to limit the number of visitors, with a maximum of eight at any one time.

Top photos via Foo Hing Chau & Andrew Kong

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