The author wrote about how crazy the Chinese were in their quest to learn English in an article in Today. And what actually turns out is Chinglish. They got it so confused that they even write their Chinese name sometimes the right way and sometimes the wrong way. Sometimes back first, sometimes front first.
Now this author, is her name Lian Pek or Pek Lian? Is she a Miss Pek or a Miss Lian? Chinglish is really confusing. But that is progress in a way.
As long as English is not the original common language of a country, it will always incorporate the accents of a particular place.
ReplyDeleteSinglish may be substandard English but Singaporeans using it understand one another without any problem.
Her name is PEK Siok Lian. She used to anchor news on Channel News Asia before leaving for America to read news for CNN, CNBC, etc...
ReplyDeleteAs such, she americanised her name to be Lian PEK.
thanks xiix and welcome to the blog.
ReplyDeleteif her lian pek is just a pen name, that's reasonable. if it is a chosen way to write her name, then it is chinglish. chinglish is developed mainly be the babas, without much thought to cultural accuracy.
the americans officially still write chinese name the right way. if hu jintao goes to the states and they write his name as jintao hu, or lky for that matter as kuan yew lee, then it is very rude of them to do so.
some people think LPPL mah
ReplyDeletethat's a nice one. lppl.
ReplyDeleteZhang Ziyi changed her name to Ziyi Zhang.
ReplyDeleteAmericans still impose their cultural imperialism upon the rest of the world, especially the Asians whose family names are usually their first name.
But Americans insist on clinging on to their ignorance by addressing us in the wrong name order.