V-day is over. Why do people seem to place so much importance on this day? It has no real significance. It serves no real purpose other than as a commercial opportunity for merchants to take advantage of. But people the world over know the date by heart, and will go to great pains to prepare for and celebrate this day.

But what about the OTHER V-days? VE-day and VJ-day? They are more significant, and have by far had a greater impact on our lives than a silly day where we allow ourselves to be fleeced by discerning merchants. I'll bet nearly all of you reading this don't even know what VE and VJ-day is, what it signifies, and what it means to us. For the said uninformed, let me enlighten you.

VE day is the abbrevation of Victory in Europe Day. It falls on the 8th of May, and it marks, in Europe, the end of the most devastating war the world has ever seen. For the morons who still don't know what i'm refering to, VE Day marks the day the Third Reich fell, and the day Nazi Germany was formally defeated. If there's anyone who thinks this wouldn't make life very different for us, just imagine this: Imagine that the Japanese occupation never ended, and we're still living under the rule of the Japanese. "Unrealistic" you say, "impossible" you cry. Well, think again. The British only came back for us and the Japanese only surrendered because they were standing alone in the last months of the war. Should Germany not have fallen, the Allies and the Russians would not have been able to spare the resources or the men to defeat the Japanese. Europe would have been under the influence of the Nazi party, and the genocidal acts against the Jews would have gone on. Does that tell you a little more about why VE day has a significance to us Singaporeans as well?

Here's a link to a clip of Winston Churchill, then Prime Minister of Britain, announcing the end of the war in Europe. http://www.statsbiblioteket.dk/dlh/ak/htdocs/play.php?postid=385

Now to VJ day. As you ought to have guessed by now, it means Victory over Japan Day. It falls on the 15th of August, and this is even more relevant to Singaporeans. Yet i can tell you confidently that nearly all Singaporeans do not know of or celebrate in anyway this day. Sure we "celebrate" or "commemorate" total defence day, but how many of us really remember what it means? How many of us really understand that more than 45 million men, women and children died so that we are able to live free from Facism? Some of us bitch about our government, but its far better than a facist one. Needless to say this is a matter which should be close to our hearts.

We have forgotten the day which mark the death of Facism, forgotten the day when the people no longer feared the government; instead the government feared the people.Instead we choose to remember and lavishly commemorate, year after year, the day on which we get suckered of our money by merchants and corporations who know all too well the commercial opportunity this day opens up. If you still think that VE Day and VJ Day are unimportant, than please, let the day slip by unnoticed. But if you truely feel that those days mark the end of years of death and suffering, and the beginning of a better life for us, then I beeseech you to tell your family, and your friends, jsut to remember, that there are some V-Days which mean far more than Valentine's Day.