So, what's in a name.......

19 Oct 2006 (this is backdated)

I finally brought my new helper, Noime home today, with a "thumping" heart. I was worried that Mama would not like her, as she was not keen in having a helper around the house, despite her fraility.

To my delight, Mama smiled and reached out her hands to receive Noime. As expected, Mama who speaks only Hokkien, is unable to pronounce her name. Noime requested Mama to give her a name - which is a smart move on her part to "score points" on her first day. Mama excitedly said,"eh eh, we shall call you Ah Heng -which means luck. I hope the name brings you and my family luck." So, that marked the beginning of Noime a.ka. Ah Heng's life with us.........

2 days later, Mama suddenly called out to me while she was watching a Taiwanese soap opera on Channel 8. I went to her and she excitedly pointed to a festive couplet that appeared on the TV screen. "That chinese character on the couplet - Hock (actually it's 福 in Mandarin, which generally means happiness , good fortune or prosperity) is Ho!! (this is the Hokkien equivalent of 好which means good), shall we rename Ah Heng to Ah Hock instead?" I was tickled by her suggestion but had to turn it down. Reason being that we should just stick to the original name and not confuse Noime with another new name. Besides, I did not want Mama to form a habit of renaming Noime based on a "suka suka" basis.


So, what's in a name? Shakespeare said, "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."