Celebs recall their best and worst Christmas gifts: A mug? A photo frame? A staycation?

They say it's better to give than to receive, and in some cases, it's easy to see that, as when you're the unfortunate recipient of a boring mug at a Secret Santa gift exchange.

Yes, this happened to one of the best and brightest of our local celebs, and she's not going to pretend she liked it.

Equally memorable, of course, are wonderful, precious and sometimes intangible gifts.

Some of our favourite personalities reveal to CNA Lifestyle their best and worst gifts of all time. What's yours?

CHANTALLE NG

Best gift: A staycation. It was along Orchard Road and the Christmas lights were beautiful. It felt like I was really soaked in the Christmas spirit.

Worst gift: A transparent box. It was meant to be an organiser. I kept thinking it was a joke, and was waiting for the "real" present.

ZHANG ZE TONG

Best gift: A pocket gimbal camera. It was a farewell gift, but it was given to me near the Christmas season, so I count it as a Christmas gift!

Worst gift: At a company-wide Secret Santa gift exchange, I drew a number and got a pair of pink knitted socks. They are still sitting on my shoe rack.

HONG LING

Best gift: A Disneyland experience in 2017 in Japan. I loved the cold weather! It was my first winter Christmas. I loved the Christmas parade as well, with all the Christmas lights and decorations.

Worst gift: A mug during a Christmas gift exchange. I guess I was quite disappointed to have gotten it.

BEN YEO

Best gift: A card drawn by my boys.

Worst gift: A heartbreaking Christmas when I was 17: A girl and I broke up after a month-long relationship. (Laughs)

NICK TEO

Best gift: A watch from my fan club, Nickteology. I really wanted a fitness watch and my fan club got it for me at the right timing. So, the watch is very meaningful to me!

Worst gift: A photo frame. I believe everyone's gotten this before!

NAT HO

Best gift: Very practical – my brother gave me money when he knew there was some new tech equipment that I was eyeing. Although now that I'm older, I think time spent with loved ones and travelling is probably more meaningful. And that's become all the more apparent in the past two years, in light of global events.

Worst gift: Probably one of those random Secret Santa gift exchange ones, which was some generic photo frame with stock photos.

FELICIA CHIN

Best gift: I think one of my best Christmas gifts was around 2017. It was an invitation to my friend’s house. A couple from church invited Jeffrey (Xu) and I, and also two young boys from the same church.

It was very meaningful because the two young boys came from families that were facing a bit more challenges, so they invited them so they could have a feel of what a whole family together feels like – how it was to have a complete family around the table, having a meal together and carving a whole chicken together; giving them a sense that this is possible for them as well. They ended the meal with presents for them and new clothes. I felt that was a very meaningful night together sharing stories with one another. It was very simple but it left me with a deep impression and deep memory.

Worst gift: Don't have leh! I think I’m quite simple. If you give me something, I’m already very happy! Sometimes if you give me perfume and it’s something I might not use, I get a bit confused or don’t know what to do with the gift. I’m not someone who will regift things to others – I feel a bit paiseh (embarrassed). I’ll put it aside. I was on a variety show and someone suggested, ‘You can open it up and put some (diffuser) sticks inside as a room fragrance.’ I thought that was quite a good idea – I didn’t think of that.