Ultimate Career
Career Worth Living For!
What’s in your name?
Jul 30th
While queuing up to buy lunch at KFC today, I saw a female KFC crew
attending to the line next to mine with a name tag that read,
“Devily.”
I really shouldn’t be surprise by now, having been in this region
of Hong Kong and mainland China for more than 6 years now. As a
teacher, quite often I will encounter students with similarly
interesting English names.
Here are some examples: Moderate, Wise, Milk, Zero, Chlorophyll,
Midway, Devil, Muscle, etc. I’m sure you would have contributions
to this list.
For Hong Kong, I was told that this is part of the British legacy.
You see, early British teachers had difficulties pronouncing and
remembering Chinese names. And so, they gave their students English
names like Apple, Orange, Rainbow, etc. just so they can identify
the individual students. As such, the purpose of having an English
name became one of being different from the rest and standing out
from the crowd.
This is unfortunate.
Whichever the language, your name is your identify! It identifies
who you are as a person here on earth. While it should carry the
component that you are unique, your name should also bear your
attributes, aspirations and, perhaps, history.
In other words, your name must have meaning that is relevant to you
and, hopefully, that you can be proud of or aspire to become. It
should serve as a source of inspiration to you as well.
To choose a name that has little or no meaning (what’s worst will
be names with silly or irrelevant meanings) and use it as a label
for yourself for your whole life allowing people to address you by
that is quite simply “poor branding.”
So, what does your name mean? When you introduce yourself to
others, how would they react to your name? When employers read your
resume, how will your name make them feel towards you?
If you have not adopted an English name yet, first think about what
you stand for, what YOU mean, and what YOU are all about. Then,
look for names that have meanings that best fit who you are and
what you can be.
This, I feel, is especially important for parents when they name
their children.
What’s in a name?
Dec 5th
While queuing up to buy lunch at KFC today, I saw a female KFC crew attending to the line next to mine with a name tag that read, “Devilyâ€.
Well, I shouldn’t be surprise by now, having been in Hong Kong for more than 5 years now. I have not done concrete research and my conclusion is anecdotal: There are just so many people in Hong Kong with out-of-this-world names (I was told there is a similar phenomena in mainland China)! And most of them do not know what the names they give themselves mean.
Some examples: Moderate, Wise, Shadow, Milk, Creamy, Zero, Chlorophyll, Midway, Devil, Rainbow, Healthy.
I’m sure you have encountered many others.
I was told this is part of the British legacy in Hong Kong. You see, early British teachers had difficulties pronouncing and remembering Chinese names. And so, they gave their students English names like Apple, Orange, Rainbow, etc. just so they can identify the individual students. As such, the purpose of having an English name became one of being different and standing out from the crowd.
But other than serving the purpose of identifying us apart from the multitude, the name that we carry should also signify what our life is about or what we aspire our lives to be.
For a Chinese to adopt a frivilous English name is to sell himself short as Chinese names can carry such rich meanings and hope. Many Western names, many of which are derived from the Bible, are very meaningful too but they are lost mostly in “modern” society and especially in this part of the world. For example, the name “Peter” means “the rock” which has the conoctation of a strong foundation.