Hence, the romanisation of my names. Hence the way I write them for the world. Makes it a lot easier for people to try to pronounce them. But: These words don't represent how the names are supposed to be pronounced. /8
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It's deliberate. If you don't know Cantonese, you will not know how to pronounce my names. If you're not familiar with a tonal language, you WILL mess up the pronunciation no matter how I write it. The pseudo-English you see here is only an approximation. /9
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'Kit' is not 'Kit'. It uses a softer initial sound halfway between 'K' and 'G'. 'Sun' is not 'Sun'. The 'u' is spoken as 'AH'. The pronunciation of 'Cheah' is nowhere near 'Cheah'. It is 'Tze' in Cantonese, and 'Che-ah' in English. /10
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Even if you know this, you're still going to mispronounce my name if you don't speak Cantonese. Cantonese is a tonal language. If you don't use the right tone, it is a mispronunciation. You need to hear the tone to get it right. I can't communicate that in writing. /11
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Because of these linguistic differences, be it something as seemingly trivial as accent or as profound as a whole new language, people always mispronounce my name. I can choose to be always offended. Or I can choose to live and let live. /12
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There will always be people who make fun of a weird-looking name. It will always happen. The question, again, is what you can do about it. /13
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Offense is an arrow shot at your feet. You can choose to let it lie there. Or you can choose to stab it into your heart. Life is always easier if you choose the former. If you do not feel insulted over your name, then there cannot possibly be an insult. /14
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Let me close with a real life story. Once upon a time, there was a boy named Soh Poh Thng. His parents were Hokkien speakers. But he had the fate of being born in an English-speaking country: Singapore. And so, everyone called him So Poor Thing. /15
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Then he joined the military and made a career out of it. No one calls him So Poor Thing anymore. They only call him Colonel Soh. /16
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If you have a name that the people around you can't pronounce, a name from a language not commonly used in the region, it will be mispronounced. Even with a pronunciation guide. You can't change that. But you CAN choose how you react to it. Choose inner peace. /end
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Just tell me what to call you and how to say it and we’ll make it work. 
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Replying to @TheBrometheus
My English name works best for English speakers.
0 replies 0 retweets 3 likesThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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