By OON JUN-YANG
PETALING JAYA: For couples celebrating Valentine’s Day today, the occasion is not just about meaningful gifts but also about spending quality time together.
Computer science major Lei Wing Teng, 21, who was seen shopping for flowers for her boyfriend, said she would be spending Valentine’s Day at home with him over a home-cooked meal.
“My boyfriend will be cooking for me tomorrow (today), and I’ll be buying flowers for him, so the roles are reversed!” she smiled.
Lei struggled to pick the best gift she had received during the past two years of her relationship.
“Every present he’s given me has been really valuable, but if I were to pick one, I would say the keyboard he got me, since I’m a programmer,” she said.
She added that gifts for Valentine’s Day should be both sentimental and practical.
“Flowers mean a lot, but pairing them with a useful gift completes the gesture.
“That keyboard is useful and meaningful, since we now have matching keyboards,” she said.
Omana Vikram, who turns 70 this year, said that while she used to receive gifts from her husband, things have changed over 46 years.
She recalled a few that stood out for her.
“He once bought me flowers, and some 20 years ago I received a ring,” she said.
However, she feels that the message of Valentine’s Day often gets lost in gift-giving.
“Valentine’s Day to me is about celebrating love and not giving each other expensive bouquets,” she said.
Omana said her husband, being a practical person, does not expect sentiments such as chocolates or flowers.
“He is a foodie, and all we plan to do is enjoy a nice meal for lunch and dinner. It does not even need to be expensive; it’s the time we spend together that means the most,” she added.
Likewise, while Scottish married couple Liz, 61, and Roth Tate, 56, will be celebrating Valentine’s Day in Malaysia for a change, there will be no grand celebrations.
“The whole year is like Valentine’s Day with her around!” he joked.
However, the pair can recall good memories of Valentine’s Day gestures.
“He used to draw cartoons for me, and we used to keep notes that we wrote for each other, but definitely no grand gestures,” she said.After being married for 33 years, Liz said she feels that Valentine’s Day is not about the material gifts.
“When we were still working, we used to buy things with material value only to realise we did not need them. Love is about tolerance, compromise and making each other laugh, and that’s what we will continue doing,” she added.
Source: love-has-no-valentines-price-tag
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