Valentine In Asia – How is it?

Many East Asian nations observe Valentine’s Day, with Singaporeans, Chinese, and South Koreans spending the most on presents.

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Asia.

Afghanistan.

Before the Taliban took over, Kabul’s Koch-e-Gul-Faroushi (Flower Street) used to be decorated with creative flower arrangements to draw young people celebrating Valentine’s Day. Poetry is a common way for Afghans to show their affection. Young poets of the new generation, such Ramin Mazhar and Mahtab Sahel, are using Valentine’s Day to highlight their concerns about the potential erosion of freedoms. By declaring, “I kiss you amid the Taliban,” they dispel dread in their political commentary.

Bangladesh.

Shafik Rehman, a journalist and editor of Jaijaidin, introduced Valentine’s Day to Bangladesh for the first time in 1993. Studying in London exposed him to Western society. Through the Jaijaidin newspaper, he brought Valentine’s Day to the attention of Bangladeshis. The “father of Valentine’s Day in Bangladesh” is Rehman.

People in many kinds of relationships—lovers, friends, spouses, moms, and children—as well as students and teachers—express their love for one another on this day by giving flowers, chocolates, cards, and other presents. On this day, the nation’s parks and recreation facilities are crowded with lovers. In Bangladesh, this day is not observed as a public holiday.

Some people in Bangladesh believe that from a cultural and Islamic perspective, commemorating this day is improper. February 14 was observed in Bangladesh as the anti-authoritarian day before Valentine’s Day. People ignore that day, though, in favor of Valentine’s Day.

China.

Valentine’s Day is known as the lovers’ festival in Chinese. The Qixi Festival, also known as “The Night of Sevens” or “Chinese Valentine’s Day,” is observed on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. The Weaver Maid star and the Cowherd star, which are ordinarily separated by the Milky Way (the silver river), are said to be able to cross over to one another on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month in the Chinese calendar.

White Day celebrations have also gained popularity among some young people in recent years.

India.

Kamadeva, the lord of love, was revered in ancient India, as evidenced by the sensual carvings at the Khajuraho Group of Monuments and the authorship of the Kamasutra. Around the Middle Ages, when Kamadeva was no longer honored and public displays of erotic adoration were frowned upon, this custom was lost. In the 1990s, this suppression of popular sympathies started to unravel.

It took until about 1992 for Valentine’s Day celebrations to take off in India. It was popularized by MTV and other commercial TV shows, as well as by radio shows and competitions for love letters. Economic liberalization also contributed to the growth of the valentine card industry. Since the Middle Ages, public displays of affection have not changed significantly, but the celebration has brought about a significant shift.

According to a 2018 online survey, 68% of participants don’t want to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Additionally, it has been noted that Hindu does not support Valentine’s Day, Muslim, or Christian populations in India.

Modern-day purists of Hinduism and Islam view the holiday as a product of India’s globalization and a cultural invasion from the West. Due to them being “foreign to Indian culture,” the Shiv Sena and the Sangh Parivar have urged its supporters to avoid the festival and the “public admission of love.”

Although political elites are behind these demonstrations, the demonstrators are middle-class Hindu men who are worried that globalization would undermine their society’s traditions, such as arranged marriages, Hindu joint families, full-time mothers, etc. In spite of these challenges, Valentine’s Day is growing in popularity in India.

Intellectuals on the Indian left have denounced Valentine’s Day harshly from a postcolonial standpoint. A front for “Western imperialism,” “neocolonialism,” and “the exploitation of working classes through commercialism by multinational corporations” are all seen as taking place on this day. The working classes and rural poor are said to grow more socially, politically, and geographically disenfranchised from the dominant capitalist power structure as a result of Valentine’s Day.

They also condemn attempts by the mainstream media to demonize Indians who oppose Valentine’s Day as a strategy for advancing the holiday’s goal. Hindu nationalists on the right are equally antagonistic. Subash Chouhan of the Bajrang Dal cautioned couples in February 2012 that “In public, they are not allowed to embrace or kiss. Our protesters will assault them “. “We don’t oppose love, but we discourage vulgar displays of affection in public settings,” he stated.

Iran.

The origins of Valentine’s Day in Iran can be traced to the Qajar dynasty in the second half of the 19th century, when Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, who did not accompany his wife on his trip to Europe, sent her a card on the holiday. The Iranian museums sell this greeting card.

Valentine’s Day has grown in popularity in Iran since the mid-2000s, especially among young people. Conservatives in Iran have, however, also harshly criticized it because they believe it contributes to the development of “decadent” Western culture.

Although the event is still widely celebrated as of 2018, authorities have tried to discourage celebrations and place limitations on the sale and production of Valentine’s Day-related goods since 2011. In addition, there have been attempts to replace Valentine’s Day with the ancient Persian festival of Sepandārmazgān, which occurs around the same time. However, as of 2016, these efforts have likewise been generally unsuccessful.

Israel.

Tu B’Av, a Jewish holiday, has been recreated and made into the Jewish version of Valentine’s Day in Israel. On the fifteenth day of the month of Av, it is observed (usually in late August). In the past, girls would dance in the vineyards while wearing white dresses, where the boys would be waiting for them (Mishna Taanith end of Chapter 4).

Along with Valentine’s Day, Tu B’Av is now observed by secular people as a second holiday of love, and it shares many of the traditions with Saint Valentine’s Day in western nations. Tu B’Av is a common day for declaring love, making marriage proposals, and giving presents like cards or flowers in contemporary Israeli culture.

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Japan.

When Morozoff Ltd. produced an advertisement targeted at foreigners in 1936, it became the first company to introduce the holiday to Japan. It later started advertising the gifting of heart-shaped chocolates in 1953, and other Japanese confectionery companies soon followed suit. Isetan department store held a “Valentine sale” in 1958. The habit gained popularity with more advertising in the 1960s.

It’s possible that a chocolate firm executive’s mistranslation during the earliest marketing campaigns is where the tradition of exclusively women giving chocolates to men began. Office women in particular give their coworkers chocolate.

Gifts like cards, candy, flowers, or dinner dates are uncommon, in contrast to western nations, and the majority of gift-related activity revolves around supplying the appropriate amount of chocolate to each recipient. During this time of year, Japanese chocolate companies generate half of their yearly sales.

Except when the day falls on a Sunday, a holiday, many women feel obligated to offer chocolates to every male coworker. Unpopular coworkers are given only “ultra-obligatory” inexpensive chocolate in a practice known as giri-choko, which combines the words “obligation” and “chocolate.” Honmei-choko, or “genuine feeling chocolate,” on the other hand, is chocolate that is offered to a loved one. Tomo-choko, which comes from the word “tomo,” which means “friend,” is a type of chocolate that friends, particularly girls, sometimes share.

The Japanese National Confectionery Industry Association, which called the day “White Day” because to the color of the chocolates being supplied, successfully campaigned to have men return favors to those who gave them chocolates on Valentine’s Day on March 14. A marshmallow maker that wanted men to give marshmallows to women made an earlier unsuccessful attempt to popularize this holiday.

On Christmas Eve in Japan, people enjoy the romantic “date night” that is associated with Valentine’s Day.

Lebanon.

A sizable portion of the Lebanese populace has Saint Valentine as their patron saint. Valentine’s Day is an occasion for lovers to show their affection for one another by exchanging presents and kind words. These gifts frequently consist of red flowers, which are regarded as the symbol of passion and sacrifice, cupcakes, and chocolate boxes.

Every city in Lebanon has a unique Valentine’s Day celebration. In Beirut, men may buy gifts for ladies and take them out to dinner. On that day, many women are asked to get married. Valentine’s Day is observed in Sidon with the entire family; it is more about family love than romantic love.

Malaysia.

Muslims in West Malaysia were forbade from celebrating Valentine’s Day due to associations with immorality. The celebration of romantic love, according to Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, is “not suitable” for Muslims. The day is “associated with elements of Christianity,” according to a fatwa (ruling) issued by the country’s top clerics in 2005, and “we just cannot get involved with other religions’ worshipping rituals,” according to Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz, head of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim), which manages the nation’s Islamic policies.

On February 14, 2011, Jakim officials intended to launch a national campaign named “Awas Jerat Valentine’s Day” (Mind the Valentine’s Day Trap) to discourage Muslims from celebrating the holiday. Raids are conducted on hotels to prevent young couples from engaging in unlawful sex, and flyers are given out to Muslim university students cautioning them against the day.

In West Malaysia, religious officials detained more than 100 Muslim couples on Valentine’s Day 2011 because the holiday was forbidden. Because they disobeyed the department’s prohibition on celebrating Valentine’s Day, some of them would face charges in the Shariah Court.

Young Muslim couples in East Malaysia are far more accepting of celebrations, even if certain Islamic officials and Muslim activists from the West have sought to push their ban into the East by organizing da’wah and telling the younger generations to abstain from such events. The event is typically frequent in both Sabah and Sarawak with flowers.

Pakistan.

Through special TV and radio shows, Valentine’s Day was introduced to Pakistan in the late 1990s. The political group Jamaat-e-Islami has demanded that Valentine’s Day celebrations be outlawed. Despite this, urban youngsters are starting to enjoy the festival, and florists anticipate selling a lot of flowers, particularly red roses. The same applies to publishers of playing cards.

The city of Peshwar’s local government formally outlawed Valentine’s Day celebrations in the city in 2016. Local governments imposed the restriction in Kohat and other cities as well.

In Pakistan, Valentine’s Day celebrations were outlawed in 2017 by the Islamabad High Court. More than 80% of readers of Dawn who were surveyed on its website concurred with this choice.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority recommended broadcasters and newspapers not to transmit any Valentine’s Day celebrations in 2018 as a result of a petition by a man named Abdul Waheed.

Philippines.

Valentine’s Day is known as Araw ng mga Puso in the Philippines, much like it is in the West. Typically, it is identified by a sharp spike in the cost of flowers, especially red roses. It is the most popular day for weddings, and some communities provide free mass weddings on this day.

Saudi Arabia.

Because Valentine’s Day is seen as a Christian celebration in Saudi Arabia, religious police there in 2002 and 2008 forbade the sale of all Valentine’s Day merchandise and instructed shop employees to remove all red goods. A black market for roses and wrapping paper has emerged as a result of this ban. More than 140 Muslims were detained by the religious police in 2012 for celebrating the festival, and all red roses from flower shops were seized. Muslims are not permitted to observe the festival, and non-Muslims are only permitted to do so in private.

However, after a fatwa was widely disseminated in 2017 and 2018, the religious police did not stop Muslims from celebrating the day. Valentine’s Day is not prohibited and is in line with Islamic principles, according to Sheikh Ahmed Qasim Al-Ghamdi, a Saudi theologian and former head of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, who made this statement in 2018.

Singapore.

Findings reveal that Singaporeans are among the greatest Valentine’s Day spenders, with 60% of Singaporeans saying they would spend between $100 and $500 during the run-up to the event.

South Korea.

In South Korea, on February 14th, women give men chocolate, whereas on March 14th, men give women non-chocolate candies (White Day). People who did not receive anything on February 14 or March 14 go to a Chinese-Korean restaurant on April 14 (Black Day) to eat black noodles and bemoan their “single life.” On November 11, young couples in Korea exchange Pepero cookies in observance of Pepero Day.

The number “11/11” is meant to evoke the length of the cookie. In Korea, a day dedicated to love is observed on the 14th of every month, albeit most of them are obscure. Candle Day, Valentine’s Day, White Day, Black Day, Rose Day, Kiss Day, Silver Day, Green Day, Music Day, Wine Day, Movie Day, and Hug Day are among the holidays observed from January through December. More chocolate is given by Korean ladies than by Japanese women.

Taiwan.

Traditional holidays including the Qixi Festival, Valentine’s Day, and White Day are all observed in Taiwan. The scenario is different from that of Japan, though. On Valentine’s Day, men give women gifts, and on White Day, women offer men gifts back.

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