‘All my life, my heart has yearned for a thing I cannot name.
– Andre Breton, French writer and poet
We have a good number of February babies born to my immediate family and relatives as well as friends.
My late daughter Garcia Ann Kejuang was born on Feb 3, 1986 (died on Dec 14, 1990) thereby adding to the number of February babies to three in my family. This was adding to my niece Daphne Cherini Low (also died on Dec 14, 1990) who was born on Feb 7, 1982 while their elder cousin Darryl Chua was born on Feb 9 some years earlier.
As such, with Ann’s entry to this world, there were three maternal first cousins who were February babies. And from my side, Ann had a paternal first cousin in Jokerson Jembu Edward Jelani, my nephew and son of my eldest brother Edward Jelani.
Jembu a.k.a Agul was born on Valentine’s Day of 1973. He was named Jokerson after being born while the father (my brother) Edward was at a club in Sibu playing a game of Gin Rummy where the card joker played a vital part.
Obviously, there was no way Edward could name his son Valentine, as I had chosen the name when I was baptised as a Christian in Jan 1962. Agul is happy with his Jokerson name. He is now a primary school senior assistant in Saratok.
He was trained in Rejang Teachers College, Bintangor after which he was sent to teach in Belaga’s Long Bulan. Later he was moved to Sungai Asap and now is in Saratok after graduating from Open University Malaysia with TESL (Teaching of English as Second Language) in 2017.
So, let’s share some inputs on the significance of Valentine Day. Also called Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, it is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honouring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, through later folk traditions, has become a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.
There are a number of martyrdom stories associated with various Valentines connected to February 14, including an account of the imprisonment of Saint Valentine of Rome for ministering to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire in the third century.
According to an early tradition, Saint Valentine restored sight to the blind daughter of his jailer. Numerous later additions to the legend have better related it to the theme of love: an 18th-century embellishment to the legend claims he wrote the jailer’s daughter a letter signed “Your Valentine” as a farewell before his execution; another tradition posits that Saint Valentine performed weddings for Christian soldiers who were forbidden to marry.
The 8th century Gelasian Sacramentary recorded the celebration of the Feast of Saint Valentine on February 14. The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries when notions of courtly love flourished, apparently by association with the “lovebirds” of early spring.
In 18th-century England, it grew into an occasion in which couples expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines”). Valentine’s Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid.
Here in Kuching, one would be able to see stall erected by the roadsides selling items related to Valentine’s Day on the eve of the day and the day itself. Both genders are expecting Valentine’s Day cards from their admirers, many of whom are secret ones.
In 1976 while in USM second year I did receive three V cards from secret admirers and till the end of my stay in USM in March 1979, I never got to know who they were from – certainly not my girlfriend who entered in 1977, namely a year after receiving the cards.
Another case of a February baby involved an infant who was adopted by an Iban couple – she was of Chinese descent. I was present during the adoption and naming ceremony circa 1983 in Sibu.
For the naming ceremony a few pieces of paper were folded after being written with names for the baby girl. These folded papers were spread randomly at the living room and some rice grains were mixed on top of the paper for a cockerel to pick.
The red cockerel picked the paper with the name Felicity written on the paper. Rightfully, Felicity which also means ‘Joy’ and ‘Pleasure’, was fitting for the baby girl as she later became a very cute and pretty toddler. I am sure she is now happily married at 40 and has children of her own.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
