Love is in the air as S’pore couples shrug off Covid-19 concerns to celebrate Valentine’s Day their way

SINGAPORE — Ms Sheryl Teo, 26, and her fiance Mr Bryan Cheong, 28, are not letting the Covid-19 outbreak stand in the way of a Valentine’s Day tradition they have maintained for four years.

Ms Teo, who works in corporate communications, and Mr Cheong, a digital marketing executive, will be heading down to Tanjong Beach Club in Sentosa on Friday (Feb 14) night just as they initially planned.

“Ever since our first Valentine’s Day together four years ago, we’ve been going to Sentosa beach for dinner and drinks to celebrate, and we planned to keep this tradition,” said Ms Teo.

When they heard that Singapore’s first confirmed Covid-19 case was related to Sentosa, the pair discussed breaking this tradition to stay home and watch Netflix, but chose to wait and see before making a decision. A 66-year-old man from Wuhan, China tested positive to Covid-19 last month after staying at Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa.

A few weeks later, the couple felt confident in Singapore’s ability to keep Covid-19 in check, and chose to keep up their romantic tradition.

“Our mindset is that, ironically, the places in Singapore right now with confirmed cases of the virus are actually the cleanest places, because so much effort has been spent to make sure that these places are now disinfected. So Sentosa is actually pretty ideal for us now,” Ms Teo said.

Mr Cheong said: “Most Singaporeans my age that I know aren’t really bothered by the outbreak. We don’t wear facemasks when we head out, although we wash our hands more often.”

Ms Teo added: “I guess going ahead with our Valentine’s Day plan is my way of actively choosing not to let the virus affect my life any further than it should.”

In the same way, Mr Chua Kok Teng, 44, is undeterred by the Covid-19 outbreak from taking his wife out to dinner tonight.

But instead of dining in a restaurant at Dempsey Hill or Tanjong Pagar like they usually do on Valentine’s Day, the couple will spend this year’s occasion supping on ma la hot pot at an open air eatery.

“We have never had ma la together, so my wife chose a place near our home in Clementi,” said Mr Chua, who is an engineer in the oil and gas industry. The pair do not drive, and decided to eat close to where they live in order to avoid taking transport to town.

Other couples whom TODAY spoke to also had the Covid-19 outbreak in the back of their minds when planning for their Valentine’s Day celebrations.

For their first Valentine’s Day together, Ms Angie Ching, 22, a student at Singapore Institute of Management, and her boyfriend Mr Tan Jun Xiong, 23, will be taking a long bus ride instead of their originally-planned MRT trip to their dinner spot at Bendemeer, in a bid to minimise the number of people they come in close contact with.

Ms Ching reasoned that a bus typically has fewer passengers than a train.

The lovebirds also initially wanted to spend the entirety of Saturday together, but decided to just have lunch and a karaoke session that day instead.

Ms Ching said she felt sad and upset when she first feared they would have to scrap their romantic evening, as the duo have barely had time to be alone with one another in the last month due to the Chinese New Year celebrations and Mr Tan working on weekdays.

Now that they elected to continue with most of their plans since they believe the outbreak situation here is under control, Ms Ching said: “I feel excited but a little wary, because the virus is still here in Singapore, and we have to stay vigilant and extra careful.”

Mr Tan, who is working as an accountant while waiting for his university term to start, told TODAY: “Life still goes on, as long as we take care of ourselves and take a little more precaution during this period of time, then there’s no need to make it seem as though the world has stopped.”

“Also, it’s our first Valentine’s together, a day where couples celebrate their love for each other. Why would we want to miss this?”

Another couple, Mr Gareth Yeo, 33, who works as an IT specialist, and his wife Ms Sharon Yu, 32, a nurse working in a general hospital ward, will be spending most of their Valentine’s Day at home, making popiah for lunch, catching an afternoon movie on the sofa and having a quiet dinner at a restaurant in Sembawang.

However, the reason they chose to remain indoors was not out of fear they might catch Covid-19, but rather because they felt that Ms Yu needed some extra rest.

After working almost non-stop for the past seven days as part of her shift schedule, Ms Yu said it was a coincidence that one of her off-days fell on Valentine’s Day, and it was the perfect opportunity for her to spend time with her husband.

“When I’m on night shift, I don’t get to see him at all, because he comes home at 7.30pm and I leave at 7pm, and when I come back in the morning he is already off to work,” she said.

Mr Yeo, who took a leave day on Friday to be with his wife, planned the whole day for them both.

“It feels like she was gone for a very long time, and now she’s back. She’s been very focused on her work for the past few days, and she’s simply had no time for other activities besides sleep, work, and cooking some simple meals,” he said.

“I think she deserves some time to unwind after having such hectic working days,” he added.

One couple refused to let Covid-19 alter their Valentine’s Day arrangements at all.

Mr Yuen, 60, and Mrs Yuen, 58, who wish to be known only by their surnames, said that while their Valentine’s Day plans were simple, they would still continue with them as planned.

“I’m not overly concerned, we just have to make sure we take the necessary precautions. So we won’t have any changes in our plan,” said Mr Yuen, who works as group head of engagement and programs at the Centre for Fathering.

The couple have been married for 31 years with three grown children, and will be going out on Saturday evening for vegan food, which they said they have been experimenting with recently.

Mrs Yuen, who is a project manager, said: “We usually take time off and do dinner, but our objective is to connect with one another. We are not so concerned about the flowers and champagne.”

“We believe that a relationship isn’t just about Valentine’s Day. If you make time for each other, every day can be Valentine’s Day,” she added.

Mr Chua said: “Naturally I am very worried about the outbreak. But I guess ultimately if we stick to the basic rules for personal hygiene, there will be many couples who can just have their usual Valentine’s Day programme.”

“At the end of the day, there’s never a 100 per cent guarantee that you will be safe, and you can only worry so much. I guess you just have to strike a balance.”