What V Day?

When I went out last Friday, I noticed huge crowds at chocolate shops everywhere. And these crowds were made up of mostly women. It took me a while to realize that these women were busy shopping for Valentine’s Day.

In Japan, it’s customary for women to give men gifts of chocolate. Apart from buying honmei (prospective winner) choco for their love interests, women usually buy giri (obligatory) choco for their male colleagues and superiors as token of appreciation. So yes, I saw women with large bags, perhaps containing 20 or 30 boxes of chocolate emerging from chocolate shops, like E-Royce in Shibuya Tokyu departmental store. And I suspect that it’s a time for chocolate producers like Meiji, Lotte and Glico to be gleefully happy with all the increase in their sales.

Since modern obligated Japanese males would like to reciprocate their female colleagues’ thoughtfulness without being seen as sissies who buy chocolates during Valentine’s Day, they wait until a month later, to return the favour on March 14th, popularly known as the “White Day”. The same custom of men giving women gifts of white chocolate or candies in white box are also practiced in South Korea and Taiwan.

I smiled to myself as I looked at girls of all ages standing in queues and staring at the fascinating display of all kind of chocolates (the Japanese are well-known for their skills in arranging stuff to make them really attractive), thinking how lucky I am as I am not obliged to spend my money needlessly on all those chocolates.

After all, like many Muslims around the world, I have never celebrated Valentine’s Day for religious reasons. Those who claim that there’s nothing wrong for Muslims to cherish their loved ones on this particular day perhaps should do some background reading on the origin of this day. (Ask Yahoo could be a good place to start.) Besides, I also believe that those who sincerely love another do not need just one day in the whole year to remind their loved ones of their heartfelt love. They should be free to express their love at all times, on all occasions.

As far as I am concerned, the only significance of February 14th is that it happens to be my friend Saliah’s birthday. And this year, as always, I wish her lots of joy, laughter, happiness and blessings.