So I have an Engrish name.

About a month ago I read this article: No need for a ‘uneqqee’ name. To be perfectly honest I thought it was kind of dumb, and promptly moved on with my life. However, I have since found out that it is actually an issue of Some Discussion, because there was even a session on Chinese radio today on it!

Apparently it is an issue of concern that more and more ethnic Chinese are adopting Christian/English first names. On the talk radio today it was said that people feel like they cannot succeed in society until they have Western names, and that it seemed to be a sort of embarrassment of their own culture and tradition. In her article Lee Wei Ling says, “I guess there is still a strong anti-colonial instinct in me that leads me to abhor any attempt by people in former colonies to adopt the names of their past colonial masters.“

I wonder which of us is the one with the colonial hang-up.

When I was born, my mother gave me the name Kirsten. She didn’t give it to me because of nostalgia for the British colonial days, or because she wanted to turn me away from my Chinese roots and solely baby-gurgle in English, or anything like that. She gave it to me because when she was studying in Ohio she had a good friend named Kirsten and thought it was a pretty name; not too common like Mary or Jane, but not too weird like Pumpernickel. I am glad she picked Kirsten, because she told me that the other choice was Darrall (read too much Malory Towers), and then today I would be writing “So I have an Engrish boy’s name.”

To be honest, she didn’t really do me any favours by giving me this name; although it might have been common enough in USA, and certainly all over the place in Scandinavian countries, in Singapore ‘Kirsten’ is about as common as a GST rebate. Over the years I have been called Kristen, Christina, No. 3 (my register number) and once at the passport office the administrator proudly announced over the PA system, “Now calling Kitten, is Kitten here?”

Personally, I don’t see how having an English name can be seen as an indication of an erosion of culture. I am no less Asian because I have an English name. In fact, I see it as a very accurate depiction of who I am: a Singaporean. After all, isn’t English taught as a first language in all Singaporean schools? Don’t we often boast that we are a great blend of East meets West, hence our popularity with multi-national companies and tourists? Going by that logic, my name is highly reflective of our Singaporean culture.

On the radio show today it was observed that this English-name thing seems to be a predominantly Chinese thing; the Malays and Indians and Japanese etc. etc. don’t seem to be obsessed with giving their children (or themselves) English names, even if they go overseas. Well, more power to them, and I honestly do think that’s great, but at the same time it must be observed that Chinese names are often more of a bitch for Westerners to pronounce than Japanese, Malay, Indian names (which more or less make sense phonetically). Chinese names seem to confuse Westerners a lot – just look at how they murder Zhang Ziyi’s name every time she’s at an awards show or a TV interview, and that’s not even a “tough” Chinese name. If you don’t mind the constant butchering of your name, or if you have figured out a way to make things work for everyone, then I’m happy for you and that’s great. But can you really blame people for the temptation to just get an English name and make things easy once and for all? Again, it is a personal choice, and does not imply that a person has cast off his or her own culture.

Apparently more and more people in China and Taiwan are also adopting English names. Apparently this is kind of worrying, but I don’t really see why. Yes, I do think it is a little weird if they give themselves English names when they can’t even speak English, and yes I do ROFL at certain choices: Lucky, Sunshine, Barbie, etc. But then again, ’tis none of our business what they want to call themselves. If they are happy with it, then why not?

In her article, LWL said, “My brothers and I have no ang moh name. My parents were not literate in Chinese when we were born, so my father approached a court interpreter he knew to give him some names to choose from.“

With all due respect, at the time of reading I did find this even more pretentious than giving your child an English name. Not being Chinese-literate, but getting someone to pick your kids’ names for you so the whole family flaunt their “tradition” and “culture” and pass judgement on others? Hmmm…

The end of LWL’s article: “I view this new trend of choosing Westernised unique names as another example of the narcissistic epidemic. I feel that if you need a name to distinguish yourself, you or your parents probably have a chip on your or their shoulder, combined with a cultural inferiority complex.” Oh, burn!

I shall remember to name my kid Lee Wei Ling in the future, no matter whether it’s a girl or boy, to prove that I do not have a cultural inferiority complex.

I’m sure that names are evolve just like everything in life. That’s why we’re not all called Graawp, or whatever Neanderthal names they had. At the end of the day it is just a noise that we make to associate with a certain individual, so what does it matter, really? Name your kid whatever you like; he/she might or might not get bullied at school, but at the end of the day if you/he/she are all happy, who cares!?