According to a YouGov survey, only 34 percent of Singaporeans will be celebrating Valentine’s Day this year. The study based its findings on data culled from 1,041 Singaporean respondents.
Findings revealed that the longer people are in a relationship, the less likely that they would spend anything special on Feb 14.
For those who have been together for less than a year, 76 percent will be marking the day. The figure drops to 48 percent for couples who’ve been together for five to 10 years, and it drops even lower to 27 percent for folks who’ve been together for 20 years or more.
The percentage also varies depending on age and marital status — Valentine’s Day is more popular among those ages 18 to 24 as well as unmarried but attached Singaporeans (63 percent). Only 37 percent of those married plan to celebrate the day, while 76 percent of those aged 55 and over can’t be bothered to do anything special.
For those who are not celebrating, the biggest reason given was they find the occasion too commercialised. Some say that Valentine’s Day is just like any other day, a few others said they get annoyed because the prices skyrocket during this event, and the last group consisting of 26 percent of the respondents say that they are not celebrating because they do not have a love life.
How Valentine’s Day started as a money-making venture
In the middle of the 18th century, Valentine’s Day began taking off in England, with lovers sending chocolates and cards adorned with flowers, ribbons and images of cupids and birds.
Eventually, huge numbers of printed cards replaced hand-written ones. In 1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City began mass producing Valentine’s Day cards.
Today, approximately a billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged every year. However, not the cards sent are intended to be read; every year, thousands of letters addressed to Juliet are sent to Verona, where Shakespeare’s fictional Romeo and Juliet lived.
YouGov is a market research company based in the UK.