In Malaysia,  Morality police arrested 80 people on Valentine’s Day for the crime of being alone with a member of the opposite sex, a practice that makes up part of a national Islamic-inspired anti-Valentine’s day campaign that started in 2005.

Clamping down on might-have-been sweethearts is expensive punishment for Malaysia when jail terms are projected to last 2 years. Lengthy terms gauge tax payers’ contributions. From Malaysia’s vantage point, that spending could be looked at as lost fiscal resources for what might have otherwise been productive spending, like quickening the pace of Malaysia’s hot electronics export market.