User talk:Dragonpine

Malaysian Chinese Surname

With increasing international travels, naming convention can pose potential problems to various authories at various time.

Malaysian Chinese is a term that is used to refer to a collective group of ethnic Chinese who are Malaysian citizens. In Malaysia, legal documents do not usually indicate the 'SURNAME' thus allowing various ethnic groups to indicate their names as they may seem fit culturally. Alphabetical listings of database like those found on telephone directory and registrars of academic institutions are usually based on the first in the order of first part of any given name. Therefore a Malaysian Citizen named James Smith would have his name listed under the letter 'J' in the telephone directory. In a way, it is quite similar to the Icelandic practice.

However, the Malaysian Chinese Names can be broadly divided into two main sub-categories. The first is the Names WITHOUT European/Western/Christian Given Name(s). Examples of names that fall in this sub-category is: LEE KIM SAI, LING KAH SING, WONG AH MENG and SIA MENG. In these instances, the family name is the first part of their name. The surnames would be 'LEE', 'LING', 'WONG' and 'SIA' respectively. The other parts of their names are their GIVEN NAME(S). Malaysian Chinese that have this name format in their legal documents have usually no problem to convince authorities in the Western world as to which part of their name is their surname because it is almost a universal knowledge that ethnic Chinese put their Family Name first before their Given Names.

There is also another group of Malaysian Chinese that have a European/Western/Christian Given Name that come before their respective Chinese Name. While maintaing the Chinese Format for their Chinese Name, they put the European/Western/Christian Given Name(s) before their Surname. Their names usually appear on legal documents as DAVID LING KAH SING, DENNIS WONG AH MENG and JOSEPH SIA MENG. This name format is sometime known as the Hong Kong Hybrid Name Format. This format usually baffles authorities in the Western world as it is hard to tell which part of the name is the SURNAME. Some authorities might be mistaken to think the last part of this name format as the SURNAME because the term 'LAST NAME' is always used in the English Speaking world to mean Family Name. Some authorities in the Western world will demand the person involved in this issue to obtain a letter from the Malaysian High Commission in order to verify as to which part of their name is the SURNAME. Unfortunately as of the time of writing, Malaysia has not actually use the Surname System in its government/administrative databases. However Malaysia does have a highly efficient ID system using the National Registration Identity Card Number. This system however does not indicate the surname of the Identity Card Bearer. It will have the full name as it is practiced culturally (Cultural Format) and biometric information like thumb prints stored in the smart chip of the Identity card (MyKad).

As rule, a name like DAVID LING KAH SING that appears in a Malaysian Document should be interpreted CORRECTLY as the following when filling a form/ legal document issued by authorities in the Western world:

Surname or Family Name: LING

First or Given Names:  DAVID KAH SING  (CORRECT)

An example of INCORRECT interpretation of DAVID LING's name is illustrated below:

Surname or Family Name: SING

First or Given Names: DAVID LING KAH    (INCORRECT)

Unfortunately, Malaysian Chinese with names that falls into the second sub-category Name Format do find themselves running into problems where western authorities do not understand this naming convention. This problem is usually compounded by the fact that the Malaysian Passport does not indicate Surname of bearer.

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