Post a Comment

Why is your surname Tsai?

I guess I answered this question prolly more than a million times.. My dad even discouraged me from changing to his surname - Chua.. Knowing that his daughter, me, was upset about not being a chua, he explained that my name was going to tell a story... And he was right...

Being hatched in Taiwan, their Cai would spell as either Tsai, Tsam or Tsao.. It's ridiculous because my parent only have three options none of which is my dad's.. Since birth certs in Taiwan are in all in Chinese, there were no need for English translations.. But coming back to singapore would mean that I needed a official translated document... So there came the Tsai. They even spell my Rui as Jui.. How awful is that?

When I was younger, we were always arranged by register numbers.. And that would mean surnames A to Z... If I was a Chua, I would be the first few as compared to a Tsai which is normally one of the last.. So During oral exams, it would hit me the most to change my surname... It was super annoying to wait for my turn cus that would mean 30over students in front of me would have finished, packed and prolly showered while I wait for my stupid turn.

Teachers could NEVER pronounce my name correctly. None.

So this was it... My surname...

Someone asked me about my baptism name today.

I said I wasn't used to it.. It's apparently a very good name but I never used it and no one uses that to call me anyway.. If one day someone calls me that, I don't even know whether I might even react to it..

And so, I have always used Rui, my last name (literally).. I always loved it and no matter hw much people confuse it with Rae or ray or rei, I don't care.. Ive used my Chinese name all my life so why should I change?

I have a pet name at home too.. But that's all because of family traditions. My daddy's side; all girls had a Li-丽.. My mom's youngest sister decided that Lina would be nice.. And so... the pet name at home... Besides, Rui is so difficult to pronounce back in Korea. So Lina is good only at home. No one knows me as Rui. Lol! Isn't that like confusing? Tell me about it.

Anyway, Rui is perfect for me.. I wish I could just be one name.. I don't even need a middle name. Just Rui..

It just get more confusing when we have all these traditions to follow, pet names, pronunciation problems and official papers.


Rui- Tears; affection

Maybe that's why I can relate to that. :)