ANNOYED!!

Right, yet another rant. This time, prepare for the inflammatory. Basically, I was griping/snarking/moaning to my good friend Kit Meng about how Westernisation had so subverged our native indentities. Names are but one example.

A name isn’t just a name, no matter what Shakespeare said. It distinguishes us from others. Life would be confusing and boring if we all shared the same name. On the other hand, blood feuds between clans would cease since names would be standard across the board. But I digress.

What I was snarking to Kit Meng about, was the fact that Western names had become default for non-Westerners. Why we choose to ape, most pathetically, Western names is anyone’s guess. In fact, it’s so sad it’s laughable. I see utterly ridiculous names such as Milky, Linky…you get the idea. What’s wrong with the name they were given at birth??

Uncool? Unhip? Passé? Why can’t we have more pride in our own names? Honestly, it is our own mindset that is the biggest hindrance. Like Kit Meng said, it is our own fault that we insist on pegging on a Western name like a tail on our backsides and ridicule all those who choose not to adopt a Western name. And those who don’t, go to all lengths to “Westernise” by using initials and the like.

I did tell Kit Meng that he was so lucky he didn’t know how lucky he was, that his parents never burdened him with an extra appendage. He is a very simple, terse Leong Kit Meng. I, on the other hand, am a just as simple and terse Yim Kai Mun but most direly, I have an extra appendage that haunts me wherever I go – it’s on my birth cert, my income-tax return slip, my Identification Card, all my official documents.

Other than waiting for the day I turn 21 and will be able to visit the solicitor of my own accord, to officially alter my name, there is always the day that Chinese/Asian names will be given to people of all races, by default.

That day isn’t as far off as you think. Till then, all that is left for us is to be stuck with ridiculous names.