An article on Valentine’s Day. Awesome. I’m proud to be bestowed with such an honour. However, I doubt I’d be doing anything much on Valentine’s Day, considering my life at home on a Saturday is not quite as interesting as many might imagine, even when it just so happens to be Valentine's.

So, Valentine’s Day. Just another day for massive spending for all the beaux who were trying to attract members of the opposite sex (or not, *ahem*), or impressed those they had already attracted. Some even sent messages from friend to friend, which was not too shocking, seeing how casual Valentine’s Day was in our school.

In any other country, Valentine’s Day is mysterious. The idea is to send anonymous or un-named cards or bouquets to one’s Valentine to prompt the receiver to try to guess the sender. Sort of. I quote my dad when I questioned him on the veracity of this statement.

“Hey Pop, what’s Valentine’s Day supposed to be like? I heard from Mrs Jeanne (our awesome Maths Olympiad teacher) that it’s not at all like how it is here.”

“Indeed Son. The first Valentine’s Day I spent in Malaysia was a strange one. It was the only place where I actually knew who sent me my Valentines.”

“Oh? So it’s all different with the ‘gwei lo-s’?”

“Usually cards or flowers just with a small note saying something mysterious or a meaningful verse but usually, they are anonymous.”

“Whoa. That’s waaaaaaaaaaaaaay different from us here.”

That got me thinking actually. I’ve definitely failed the expectations of a Western Valentine. My valentine was a bunch of plants filled with a long message and a sign off with my name attached. Then again, when in Asia, do as the Asians do.

Here, it’s so casual we even have friends giving each other notes celebrating this much-commercialised day. If a foreigner saw our strange Valentine’s Day habits, strange thoughts of an ‘open society’ would probably go through his or her head. What happened to the good old days, when Valentine’s Day was either a day full of mushy conversations laced with vows of love and garnished with the occasional PDA (Public Display of Affection), or a good day to pull a prank on a desperate friend or with others, a SAD (Singles Awareness Day)?

Maybe it’s just a different sort of love that we’re celebrating. That’s pretty deep and special, come to think of it. Friendship is a very big aspect of love, too.

Well, here's my report on Valentine's Day eve in school.

T’was a Friday the thirteenth, and one could tell that this was definitely not a typical school day. The first sign of this was, in fact the ‘first contact’ I had with another student. Instead of a friendly “Hi” and a jolly pat on the back, I got an “Oi, Jack. Get over here and help me unload these orchids.” I turned around to see Grace, the Great Purveyor of Fine Orchids, waving her arms wildly and pointing at her car, which was a ‘Kancil’, filled to the brim with a vast variety of many, many very colourful orchids. After helping her, I was dragged off by Jennifer, the Great Purveyor of Fine Teddy-Bears-with-Strange-Suction-Cup-Thingamabobs-Attached-to-Their-Heads, to her car, which also had quite a few plastic bags full of assorted bears.

Most of the Fifth Formers involved in this Valentine’s Day business sacrificed their Physical Education period for the distribution of flowery substances. The laboratory floor was littered (I mean covered) with boxes and the occasional bucket filled with anything from orchids and sunflowers to chocolates and teddy bears to strange-glittery-hearts-on-the-ends-of-sticks and decorated glasses. This massive pile did of course diminish greatly over time, and after a load of disturbing classes and making little secondary students smile and blush, everything was given out, much to the pleasure of the seniors.

After much smiling, and happy people walking around, maybe even a few people with broken hearts (not that I saw anyone in this state), lunch, and a short lesson, there was a formal assembly. The students were constantly excited and animatedly conversing with their fellow cronies, much to the distress of the prefects, right up to the point when Datin Freida arrived.

The address made by Datin Freida was engaging and kept all the students happy and quiet. However happy they were, the students were solemn for a ‘moment of silence’ for the victims of the Australian wildfires. Unfortunately, Datin Freida didn’t have time to introduce the book that she had intended to tell us about, but she did manage to unveil an all-new live feed of the Cempaka Scene. (Only the best news channel of all the Cempakans.)

This episode featured many behind-the-scenes preparation footage showing the hard work of the seniors, who worked very hard to prepare chocolates, roses and their respective products. After many hours of painstaking efforts by all the seniors, everything was prepared, and then delivered. This was all work that we took for granted when we were younger and not seniors. Good luck to the Fourth Formers to deal with the workload next Valentine’s!

Also, there were Valentine's dedications broadcasted during the Cempaka Scene airtime. Again, all the dedications were non-anonymous and un-mysterious, making the audience laugh at the friendly love messages flashing on and off the pink screen. As for the few messages that were marked ‘anon’, thanks to whomever you are for keeping to the ‘gwei lo’ way of doing things, and may it spread through as the trend during Valentine’s.

Happy Valentine’s Day, and of course we must not forget, Happy Singles Awareness Day!