Only a third of Singaporeans will be commemorating the Feast of Saint Valentine (aka Valentine’s Day), according to a survey conducted by UK-based market research company YouGov.
Mainly not because we’re a loveless, unromantic bunch — it’s just that we’re not that likely to do anything special on Feb 14 the longer we are in a relationship. The study is based on the results derived from 1,041 Singaporeans.
Though 99 percent of Singaporeans are aware of the (grossly commercialized) day, only 34 percent are intending to celebrate it. It all depends on how long they’ve been with their partner, noted YouGov — the number of people actually planning something for Valentine’s Day drops the longer they’ve been in a romantic relationship.
For the lovebirds who’ve 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 (ah, young innocent love) 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.
Among those who won’t be celebrating, the top reason why they aren’t doing so is that they find Valentine’s Day too commercialized (and rightly so). Other rationales include the belief that Valentine’s is just like any other day and that prices get jacked up way too much for the event. 26 percent aren’t doing anything special because… they’re single. Big oof.
For those who will be celebrating though, about eight in ten plan to buy gifts for their partners, which is frankly pretty boring. Only 2 percent of Singaporeans are planning to gift something that doesn’t cost any money — but it damn well better not be “the gift of love”. Our choice of V-Day celebration? Dancing the night away with Crag David on Thursday (and Friday and Saturday) night.
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