The Given Name

I'm glad my parents gave me an English name, and registered it at birth. Although we are not Christians, but it is common these days for the Chinese to adopt one such name. Some are Christians, and some are not. Some given names are Biblical, and others are just, culturally-influenced, I would say. Some names date back to years ago and carries a certain meaning. Our given names, namesake or not, is something we should carry to our very graves.

Hi, my name is Angelyn Ho Wai Lee.

I bear the surname 'Ho' from my father, and 'Wai' is a common name for almost all the females in the family.. 'Lee', pronounced as Lei in Cantonese put together with my sister's last name 'Mee', pronounced as Mei bears Mei Lei, which means pretty or beautiful. Simple and sweet, nothing complicated.

I never did learn to read or write Chinese, or speak Mandarin for that matter of fact. I can speak Cantonese, which is my mother tongue, so I guess that's good enough. I don't think my inability to be more Chinese-educated (speaking, reading and writing) makes me any less Chinese.

So don't come telling me I'm not Chinese enough because I can't speak Mandarin. To hell with your shallowness!

Anyways, back to my name. I like my name the way it is. I prefer my Chinese name as it is because it's simple and easy to pronounce. Malaysians can really screw names up by pronouncing it all wrong. What to do, language contamination, bahasa baku influence, aiya Engrand also so-so..

My name is Angelyn Ho Wai Lee, and I shall be addressed as such.

I was at the Kementerian Dalam Negeri building this morning, wanted to renew my passport. So the usual procedure; fill in forms, thumbprint scan, pay the fee, and wait to collect the renewed document. And when it was my turn to collect, the lady at the counter called out my Chinese name, only that. HO WAI LEE. It's no big deal, but it felt different.

Woman, my name is stated there, documents and such: Angelyn Ho Wai Lee. Y u no comprendo?!

Maybe there are some cases, some people adopt English names, fancy schmancy ones like Lebron, or Apple (the latter makes me eat my own vomit. Why would anyone name themselves Apple?! Geez). But if it's in my legal documents as Angelyn Ho Wai Lee, why don't you call me that? My Angelyn mean as much as my Chinese name, if not more. It's my name, my given name, and you shall call me that.

Axing out my English name is like taking an identity from me. Ho Wai Lee could be a completely different person. Plus, I'm in a government building, you're a government officer, and these are all official documents. The name I wrote in them little boxes and it says there, sebagaimana yang tertera dalam kad pengenalan, is my actual name.


That's my name and woman, you're going to call it as it is stated!

Unless it's Ho Wai Lee Angelyn, then fine, you can address me by my Chinese name first.

Seriously, something that is just right in front of you, and you can't seem to follow. No wonder Malaysia is still so backwards. No wonder our nation is not developing with a slow, inefficient and corrupt government service. Why are we feeding a bloated 1.4 million civil servants when they can't even follow simple instructions?

Sweet fucking lord, just do something worthwhile for the country, boleh tak?

Gosh, don't get me started on the incompetent workers of the government. I feel like shipping you people to Guantanamo Bay. Oh wait, we do have our own, Pulau Jerejak!