With the very last countries globally now dropping their COVID-19 entry restrictions, and last year’s reopening of Singapore’s borders, confirmation of the public holiday dates for 2024 means its time to start locking in your leave days for next year, to snag long weekends for short regional overseas trips plus leave-efficient longer breaks for more adventurous vacations.
First the bad news – there are only five long weekends in 2024, two less than in 2023. On the plus side you’ll still get three days off without having to take any leave whatsoever during these periods, but they are sure to prove popular next year.
These can be easily extended to a 4-day break, for taking only a single leave day at either side, and two public holidays falling on a Thursday in 2024 means two additional options if that’s your strategy, for six 4-day weekends in total.
Here’s how it looks.
Full list of Public Holidays in 2024
First of all, here’s the full list of official gazetted public holidays in Singapore for 2024.
2024 Public Holidays in Singapore
| Holiday | Date(s) | Observed Date(s) (if different) |
| New Year’s Day | 1 Jan (Mon) | |
| Chinese New Year | 10 Feb (Sat) 11 Feb (Sun) |
12 Feb (Mon) |
| Good Friday | 29 Mar (Fri) | |
| Hari Raya Puasa |
10 Apr (Wed) | |
| Labour Day | 1 May (Wed) | |
| Vesak Day | 22 May (Wed) | |
| Hari Raya Haji | 17 Jun (Mon) | |
| National Day | 9 Aug (Fri) | |
| Deepavali | 31 Oct (Thu) | |
| Christmas Day | 25 Dec (Wed) |
Long weekends (no leave needed)
If you’re a fan of preserving your precious annual leave days for longer trips and you’re happy with a three day break for a regional jaunt, there are five opportunities to do just that in 2024.
2024
Zero-leave 3-day trip options
| Holiday | Observed Date(s) | Days for a trip (including weekend) |
| New Year’s Day | 1 Jan (Mon) | 3 days |
| Chinese New Year | 12 Feb (Mon) |
3 days |
| Good Friday | 29 Mar (Fri) | 3 days |
| Hari Raya Haji |
17 Jun (Mon) | 3 days |
| National Day | 9 Aug (Fri) | 3 days |
Extending long weekends (single leave day)
Happy with 4 consecutive days off work for taking just a single annual leave day?
Here’s our rundown of six opportunities to do just that in 2024.
2024
Leave-efficient 4-day options
| Holiday | Observed Date(s) | Apply for leave on | Days for a trip |
| New Year’s Day | 1 Jan (Mon) | 29 Dec 2023 (Fri) or 2 Jan 2024 (Tue) |
4 days |
| Chinese New Year | 12 Feb (Mon) |
9 Feb (Fri) or 13 Feb (Tue) |
4 days |
| Good Friday | 29 Mar (Fri) | 28 Mar (Thu) or 1 Apr (Mon) |
4 days |
| Hari Raya Haji | 17 Jun (Mon) | 14 Jun (Fri) or 18 Jun (Tue) |
4 days |
| National Day | 9 Aug (Fri) | 8 Aug (Thu) or 12 Aug (Mon) |
4 days |
| Deepavali | 31 Oct (Thu) | 1 Nov (Fri) |
4 days |
The additional one here compared to the long weekend list is Deepavali in October, which falls on a Thursday next year.
Of course you can always extend these six options slightly at either side with an extra leave day (2 leave days in total) to make them 5-day trips.
More 2 days of leave = 5 days off options
Hari Raya Puasa, Vesak Day and Labour Day fall on a Wednesday in 2024, which doesn’t help you have a long weekend for a single leave day, but you can always take two leave days either side of these public holidays and give yourself a five-day stretch to enjoy a trip somewhere.
That’s in addition to the six options listed above, which can also easily be extended to a 5-day break for 2 leave days.
Here’s how these additional three options work.
2024
Hari Raya Puasa leave option
| Holiday | Observed Date(s) | Apply for leave on | Days for a trip |
| Hari Raya Puasa | 10 Apr (Wed) | 8 Apr (Mon) 9 Apr (Tue) or 11 Apr (Thu) 12 Apr (Fri) |
5 days |
2024
Vesak Day leave option
| Holiday | Observed Date(s) | Apply for leave on | Days for a trip |
| Vesak Day | 22 May (Wed) | 20 May (Mon) 21 May (Tue) or 23 May (Thu) 24 May (Fri) |
5 days |
2024
Labour Day leave option
| Holiday | Observed Date(s) | Apply for leave on | Days for a trip |
| Labour Day | 1 May (Wed) | 29 Apr (Mon) 30 Apr (Tue) or 2 May (Thu) 3 May (Fri) |
5 days |
Still got 2023 leave days to use?
If you’re still holding on to an annual leave balance to use up this year, don’t worry.
We’ve got you covered with our guide to maximising the 2023 Public Holidays, including an option over Christmas and New Year to score 10 days out of the office for only 4 leave days!
Summary
Don’t waste your annual leave in 2024, with several options available for stretching out a number of overseas trips next year, including six options for a 4-day trip with only 1 day of leave and nine options for a 5-day trip with only 2 days scrubbed from your leave balance!
There are even five long weekends for 3-day trips with no leave days scrubbed from your balance.
Obviously we’re assuming here that most of our readers are office-based ‘Monday to Friday’ types, so you’ll have to examine the full public holiday calendar yourself if you normally work on a different pattern of days, to identify where your personal ‘sweet spots’ lie in 2024.
Almost all countries now offer two-way test-free, quarantine-free travel for Singapore residents, many of which no longer even require proof of vaccination.
Recently this list has grown even longer, including favourites like Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong, while there have been a wide range of regional options for some time already, like Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia and Malaysia.
Wherever you’re hoping to jet off to, it’s worth locking in your annual leave now to maximise your days off, then work out where to go later, now that an almost full pre-COVID range of leisure travel options has returned.
(Cover Photo: Club Med)
Wow you got this even before ST and CNA and with far more in depth analysis. Bravo!!
Any idea on 2024!school holidays?