Come Feb 14 every year, many of us celebrate Valentine’s Day without fail. This is despite some religious bodies and political parties with a religious swing forbidding its celebration.
Today, Valentine’s Day has come a long way since its birth. It has been so commercialised and its ideology hijacked that many do not even know why this day was regarded as special in the first place
It all began with St Valentine, a priest near Rome in about the year 270 AD, during the time when the church was enduring great persecution.
His ministry was helping Christians to escape this persecution by the Romans, and to provide them the sacraments, such as marriage, which was outlawed in the Roman Empire during that period.
St Valentine was imprisoned and persecuted as a Christian under the Roman Emperor Claudius II, and he was forced to convert into Roman paganism.
During his imprisonment, he is said to have healed the daughter of his jailer Asterius. History reveals that before his execution he wrote “from your Valentine” as his last note to her.
Though this took place in Rome centuries ago, Valentine’s Day has been reinvented by many nations celebrating the day in their own unique way.
Some Latin American countries commemorate Valentine’s Day as a day of love and friendship.
Slowly but surely, the celebration made its way to the east.
In India, during the earlier days, the day was commemorated as a tradition to honour Kamadeva, the deity of love, demonstrated through the writing of the Kamasutra, the art of lovemaking and the Khajuraho Group of Monument.
In South Korea, women give chocolate to men on Feb 14, and men give non-chocolate candy to women on March 14, which is known as the White’s Day.
In China, the common situation is the man gives chocolates, flowers or both to the woman that he loves.
Malaysia, Singapore and other Southeast- Asian countries are not spared of this tradition.
Token of affection
Today, Valentine’s Day is celebrated popularly by lovers of all social classes by exchanging gifts as a token of affection.
With the emergence of online media, the act of exchanging messages and tokens of affections to express one’s emotions are now made simple and being sent straight to their doorstep.
Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine’s Day greetings.
Valentine’s Day is all about love which has been defined as an intense feeling of deep, tender, ineffable feeling of fondness and solitude towards an individual. It is the human feeling called love that inspires the gestures and works of charity usually demonstrated on Valentine’s Day.
Dictionaries suggest the meaning of love as a lifestyle or habit.Considering the nature of love and the attitudes of people in this part of the world, it may not be wrong to conclude that many celebrants of Valentine’s Day in this era are hypocrites.
They claim the celebration of love towards another ought to be a daily affair, but they act otherwise.Whatever the odd mixture of origins and whatever the reasons, St Valentine’s Day is now a day for lovers worldwide. And there is no way of stopping it.
It is the day that you show your friend or loved one that you care. You can send candy to someone you think is special. Or you can send roses, the flower of love.
Most people send “Valentine” greeting cards but do whatever you may to impress your loved one to show that you care. Wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day!
Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/02/14/a-celebration-of-love-worldwide/
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