My name? His name? Our name?

My marriage to Mike has been around long enough to survive many a pleasureable plateau (grin) and vast earthquakes and yet, I can't decide what to be called. It's especially trying when signing off on my kids' school consent forms. Mmmmm......such a tough life, having to decide....should it be Fiona Chia (which is official, in case you need to send a cheque to me, or I need to sue you in court etc) or Fiona Yeo (which I'm so proud to be because at the very least, I share the same surname as my kids and Mike)?

Am I Fiona Chia or Fiona Yeo, Fiona Chia-Yeo or Fiona Xie? Yes, yes, I was even Fiona Xie during my school days (Oi! OFFICIALLY documented in my school examination certs okay?) but that was many moons before THE Fiona Xie even became famous (muahahaha). Yes, I belong to the era of HanYuPinYin guinea pigs in primary schools!

So there, I share the same name as MY IDOL Fiona Xie (Who doesn't want to look like her? Crazy or what? She's simply adorable and beautiful) and officially, the same surname as sexy blogger Dawn YANG (Corny lah but Fiona Yeo/Fiona Yang, Dawn Yeo/Dawn Yang, get it?). Both of whom, I do not share the same looks or bOOb size with......... unfortunately!

I squirm everytime I'm called Mdm. Chia. There's something about being called MADAM that makes me feel old. I'll always be young at heart but Mdm. brings back all the lines and wrinkles.
It doesn't happen very frequently and now usually restricted to visits to the doctor or dentist!
When we first got married and I was still a young and newby teacher, I had no qualms about adding Mike's name to my I/C so that I would NOT be referred to as Mdm. Chia. I preferred to be called Mrs. Yeo. To me, Mdm. So and So gave me a mental picture of my brood of ageing and unmotivated 2nd Language Chinese teachers (Mother Tongue teachers as they are called today), to whom I owe my level of 'eat potatoe' (chiak kan tang) Chinese to.

So I proudly trooped off with my marriage certificate in hand to add his name to my I/C.
Somehow, because I had a Christian name, the school dropped Mike's Christian name but retained his Chinese name and so in school, I became Mrs. Fiona Yeo Hxxx Cxxx. I know in the teaching community, there are plenty of such name combinations floating around but it irked me no end to see such a name written especially on official name lists circulated at school cluster meetings and courses which I had to attend. Hxxx Cxxx was so clearly a male name. It finally ended when I started teaching at another school and they just settled for Mrs. Fiona Yeo (phew! back to being a female).

Trouble is on all official documents, the authorities don't want to see Fiona Yeo unless it has a prefix 'Mrs'. Otherwise, it counts for nothing (what!?). Besides, if I wrote Fiona Yeo down on a lucky draw, would I be able to claim the prize if I won any?

Why don't I just get rid of either surname? I can't. Can't get rid of my heritage and definitely can't get rid of the connection to THAT snoring chap with whom I've now spent, more years with, than as a single human being. So I remain status quo.

When people need to record my I/C details, they often go, "Wah, why your name so long?". Well, it's not my fault that I have my entire Christian, surname and Chinese name in addition to 'Mrs' followed by Mike's entire Christian, surname AND Chinese name. Wait, we haven't even added our HanYuPinYin names or our Confirmation names (Catholics that we are)! That's another story entirely. Eh, the priest recorded the wrong name on my Confirmaton cert. but I think I'm not exactly in a hurry to add another name to my already complicated list. My friend refers to me as FCY. I like that. FCY.

Fiona Xie (Remember, I had that name first.......Muahahahah!)