Hey Anna, what's with the teaspoon?
Well, there's a simple reason for that. It just so happens to be my initials.
How can that be? Your name is Anna Tan, isn't it?
Yes, but there's more to it.
In a normal Western culture, the order of a name would be [first name] [middle name, if any] [last name/surname], e.g. Orson Scott Card. (Because his book is right in front of me)
In a normal Chinese culture, the order of a name would be [surname] [name character 1] [name character 2], e.g. Lim Mei Ling (because these are really common names). Now, contrary to western practice, Mei isn't a first name and Ling isn't a middle name, so you wouldn't just call her Mei, or Ling. (Though these might end up as nicknames). What you would call her would be Mei Ling, (sometimes hyphenated) just as you would call someone Orson. Instead of Or, or Son.
A quirky Malaysian (and I think Singaporean) culture when parents want to give their children both English (or western) and Chinese names, would be to put it like this [first name] [surname] [chinese names].
Oh... so what's YOUR name?
My name, in full, is Anna Tan Shuh Ping, hence ATSP.
p/s edited. Because the editor is doing some funny html stuff.
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