SINGAPOREANS will be basking in a bonanza of long weekends next year, according to a schedule of public holidays released yesterday.

What is more, creatively tacking several days of leave to long weekends in January, May and November could yield extended breaks from nine to 16 days.

With eight long weekends in the year ahead, 2009 is looking good for the savvy holiday planner. That's a step up from this year, which has four long weekends.

At the start of 2009, you can expect a reprise of this year's Chinese New Year holiday hongbao. The first two days of the festival next year fall on a Monday and Tuesday in January. With an additional three days' leave, you could take off for nine days.

Various permutations of leave-taking can yield different numbers of rest days, though.

For example, Deepavali and Hari Raya Haji fall within a two-week span in November. If you have an additional eight days of leave to spare, you can maximise it to get a 16-day break.

Litigation lawyer Linda Ong, 29, plans to get away for short regional trips during the time off.

'My secretary usually alerts me to all the public holidays in the coming year so we plan our leave dates ahead accordingly,' she said.

Days off may not always be a good thing, though, according to teacher Robert Yeo, 31.

He said that although he looks forward to time off from work, the holidays bring woe to him and his colleagues.

'It means that we have fewer teaching hours to complete our students' syllabus. We may have no choice but to arrange make-up lessons for them,' he said.

However, travel agents are all smiles.

They expect bookings to increase 20 to 30 per cent next year.

Ms Eileen Oh, senior marketing communications manager at ASA Holidays, said her agency plans to request more seats from airlines and introduce themed tours.

SA Tours marketing and communications manager Ruth Lim said: 'We will certainly plan more departure dates and itineraries suited for weekend getaways, especially since next year's public holidays fall mostly on weekends.'

However, if you cannot wait till next year to maximise your leave, you can still try to cash in on Labour Day, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Deepavali or Christmas this year.

Here's a tip sheet on which days to get off:

Labour Day

When: Thursday, May 1

Apply for leave: May 2

Number of days off: 4

Hari Raya Aidilfitri

When: Wednesday, Oct 1

Apply for leave: Oct 2 and Oct 3

Number of days off: 5

Deepavali

When: Tuesday, Oct 28

Apply for leave: Oct 27

Number of days off: 4

Christmas Day

When: Thursday, Dec 25

Apply for leave: Dec 26

Number of days off: 4