Build friendships, not just business relations

The world today is getting more and more global. We are born in one place, maybe move somewhere else to grow up and go to school, work in yet another city, sometimes marry someone from another city or country, and possibly work in yet another country. In our lifetime, it would be very rare to say that we were born, grew up and still live in the same city.

Moving to a new culture is not unusual anymore. With constant people movement, we may never have moved from our hometown, yet we are surrounded by different ethnic groups, nationalities and cultures. How do both cultures strike a balance to meet somewhere in the middle? How do we create a win-win situation?

Many years ago, Singapore's former Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, had the foresight to forge good relations with China. Today, we celebrate Singapore's relationship with China in so many different sectors of society: political, economic, social, etc. A large majority of Singaporeans are ethnically Chinese. We still speak the language of our ancestors, and Mandarin, the working Chinese language of today. But, we are so different from China. Unless we learn, we cannot work well together.

In the above article, Mr Lee says that we Singaporean Chinese must live in China to be truly bicultural. I agree. The best way to learn about a people and its culture is to be fully immersed in the atmosphere. We will never really "be one of them", but we will be able to understand what makes them tick. That's where the real relationship or 关系 is formed.

Business relationships are temporal. Friendships are for life. Singapore and China have built a friendship. Let us, the people of Singapore and China, build personal friendships. It begins by learning the language.

我们都要学普通话！We must all learn Mandarin!

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Equipments or equipment?

Poor spelling, bad grammar, wrong use of plural form, typos, ... the list can go on and on. I worked in Corporate Communications for too long. I had a perfectionist boss for way too long. I tend to pick out mistakes faster than I can appreciate the content of a written piece. Sigh. Will this occupational hazard ever go away?

Now I'm going to be a corporate trainer, facilitating seminars on customer service. Granted most customer service is oral, rather than written, but really, what's the difference? A frontline staff who can't express himself properly to be understood is just as bad as a poorly written letter. Bottom line: your company's brand and image has been tarnished for a long time, if not for life.

Once in a blue moon, typos make for a more interesting meaning, but it still mars your professional image. What's in a brand name anyway? A lot. First impressions can either make or break your professional image.

Many years ago, my friend complained about her boss. He drafted letters that she had to type, get him to sign, then mail out. Problem was the boss didn't quite know proper English. "Equipments" showed up quite often in his drafts because the company sold musical instruments and related equipment. Since "equipment" is both singular and plural, she typed up the draft without the "s" after "equipment" and promptly got a scolding from the boss himself.

"Hah? You think you so clever ah? You don't change my English ok? "Equipments" not "equipment". You just type what I write. Don't try to be smarter than me!" So, she got told off way too many times, not to correct his perfect English!

What do you do with a boss like that? Of course, she eventually found another job!

No matter what your level of English may be (or any other language, for that matter), let's do our best to learn it well, so as not to embarrass ourselves. It's perfectly alright to make mistakes, but let's learn from them and move on.

Have fun learning English!

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ARAISE or ARISE?

My friend is visiting Sri Lanka and took this photo. So apt because the hotel where the conference is being held was destroyed by the December 2004 tsunami. Now, it's back up and fully operational.

Sometime ago, I wrote about typo errors that actually add to the meaning of the text, rather than stand out as a glaring mistake. This is another of those typo errors that make the English language so rich and meaningful.

Of course, if you're a purist, you will be most upset because the conference organisers have seemingly mangled the English language. I'm almost a purist, having taught business English in non-English speaking countries, and spent many years in Corporate Communications. Bad grammar and poor spelling irk me. They do! It reflects badly on you and the company you represent. Poor spelling and bad grammar must be corrected before the document goes out. I'm all for that.

But, once in a while, I do like the little typo here and there because it adds so much colour to life.

So, let's push for good English, but let's also appreciate the typos that mean so much to the context. Let's ARAISE - raise up a destroyed dream, and rise to the occasion!

Happy learning English! Fun Language Tools

Do you love books?

Do you love books? I do! Ever since I was a child, my mother introduced me to books. We took a trip to the library every week and spent hours and hours browsing, then borrowing as many books as were allowed at one time.

I learned to read English as soon as I could make out the letters. My dad taught me how to hold a pencil correctly and write my "abc". Till this day, I love reading, but I must say I still prefer holding an actual book, rather than reading off a screen. Somehow, my brain takes in more from a printed page, rather than an electronic screen.

This article talks about buying books for children. I love it! Children are sponges. Introduce them to anything and they absorb it quickly. I had many gifts of books while growing up. I loved buying story books every year at the school book sale. Books about different cultures and peoples of the world fascinated me the most. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why I'm so into multi-cultural and cross-cultural books and ideas.

Learning languages came much later. I grew up in a monolingual home. My first language is English, even though I'm ethnically Chinese. Today, I can speak Mandarin and several other languages in varying levels of fluency. It is sheer hard work, but a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I haven't stopped learning yet.

So, this Christmas, if you're going to buy a gift(s), why not choose a book? Give the gift of learning today!

Happy shopping!

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What's your favourite food?

I always thought that our favourite food would be the food of our nation or culture i.e. what I've grown up eating would be what I enjoy most. Many of my American friends will eat nothing other than steak and potatoes. Fish comes in the form of fish fingers or filets, not whole fish with eyes staring at you from the plate. (Sound funny? I do have a big Puerto Rican friend who couldn't sit at the table while we were enjoying the delicious whole steamed fish! He kept shielding his eyes from the fish. We had to hurry up and finish the fish, and get the waiter to remove the plate immediately!)

So, I decided to take a poll on Facebook. I posted on my wall asking what your favourite kind of food is (e.g. Chinese, Italian, Thai, etc) without having to give a reason. Do I really need to justify my choice of a favourite food???

Out of the few responses I got, the majority of them said "Chinese". This really surprised me. I had non-Chinese friends saying they loved Chinese food. As expected, a few friends said their favourite food was from whatever culture they are from (e.g. Thai, Filipino, Mexican, etc). But I still can't figure out why a non-Chinese would say Chinese food is best.

Then again, there is really no need to have a reason for liking a particular kind of food. Tastebuds are subjective. To each his own. One of my friends was cheeky enough to ask if "free food" counted as favourite! Haha. I don't see why not!

So, are our tastebuds nationalistic? I don't know. While we're enriching our lives and knowledge with other cultures and languages, let's enrich our tastebuds too with delicious food from around the world!

Enjoy your feast!

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Fried spiders anyone?

I've always been an adventurous eater, thanks to my dad. My dad used to love to try new kinds of food and new eating places. I learned to enjoy raw fish (both Japanese and Cantonese style), eat snails (French escargot and Asian stir-fried snails), and learn to appreciate so many different kinds of weird and delicious food eaten around the world. My philosophy of food is: "I'll try anything once. If I don't like it, at least I can say that I've tried it and don't like it."

Because of my adventurous tastebuds, I get irked by people who say, "Ewwwww! How can you eat that?!" or "There is NO WAY I am going to try that! That's gross!" (Note: these expressions are accompanied with a look of great disgust.) If I mentioned what nationality those people are, I'd be beaten to a pulp physically and verbally. Some readers will know who those folks are. Better left unsaid.

When I moved to Cambodia as a missionary teacher, I ate everything put in front of me, with very few exceptions. I enjoyed everything. I ate like a local. My local colleagues and students loved me because I would eat anything they offered and enjoy it e.g. fried spiders (picture above). This was a real treat because the good ones are only available on the way to the countryside. So, if I or someone else was passing that way, we'd be sure to buy some for the office staff as a treat.

Some years ago, The 700 Club sent a Filipino cameraman, John, and white American producer, Ken, to Cambodia to film the CBN medical team in action. The team travelled daily to different villages to treat patients. On the last day of the filming, Ken needed to film a story on fried spiders. So, we headed to the truck stop of Skoun (1.5hr drive from the city) to get the story.

Ken was petrified as we approached Skoun. This big white man cowered in fear at the trays of fried spiders. Since he had a hard time getting people who were willing to be interviewed on camera, I got on camera as well. Ken bravely did his few lines eating a spider leg, then spit it out as fast as he could as soon as John said, "Cut." The children watching giggled at this big white man and his antics. They got to eat the leftover spider that Ken couldn't stomach. We spent about 1/2 day filming the story and headed back to the city.

For the rest of the evening, we couldn't stop laughing at Ken. John had to do his best to keep the camera from shaking because he was trying to stifle his laughter. Even over dinner at a fancy French restaurant, we were laughing over every bite of our meal. For Ken, he had heard about fried spiders from someone else. He sold the story so convincingly to his boss that he had no choice but to return to the US with the footage.

Nothing really prepares you for the experience, does it? You may be like Ken - terrified of the dead insects that we eat as a snack. Or, you may not be scared, but disgusted instead. Or, be like me and jump right in to see if you like the taste. Whichever type of person you are, try something new today. Be adventurous! You'll be richer for the experience.

Happy eating adventures!

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Cook a Pot of Curry Day

Food is just so close to our hearts. No wonder the old saying goes, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach." Honestly, this saying applies to both men and women, not exclusively to men.

A rumoured incident in Singapore created a hot and spicy ripple of reaction across this tiny island country. When the tempers calmed, we found out that the incident actually happened several years ago, and not recently, as the whole incident seemed to imply. Well, since we all found out the truth before the said Cook a Pot of Curry Day, everybody decided to carry on and cook curry anyway. After all, food is just so close to our hearts. Besides, Singaporeans pride themselves on their love of good food.

What ended up happening was a pleasant and happy outcome. Ordinary families cooked their favourite kind of curry and invited friends and neighbours to come over for a meal. It became a pot-luck curry lunch/dinner among friends and family. It also became an informal multi-cultural event. Families and friends of different races shared their special type of curry with one another.

I didn't take part, but I thought it was a very happy ending to what could have been a very nasty incident. New immigrants need to learn to adapt and fit into our neighbourhood, not the other way around. What better introduction than over food - something close to everybody's heart.

Here's to adventurous eating and learning about another culture in the process!

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Are your tastebuds nationalistic?

I know Singaporeans love food. And we're very proud of some of the local dishes we have: chilli crab, char kway teow (fried flat rice noodles with lots of yummy ingredients and sweet black sauce), Hainanese chicken rice (not found in Hainan, only in Singapore and Malaysia), Nonya laksa, ... to name a few. When friends from overseas come, we want to serve them the very best of local food.

Imagine my shock and disappointment when a group of Cambodian youth returned from 1 week of youth camp in Singapore with local Singaporean youth. Of course everyone wants to know their stories. But, what crushed me deeply was the incessant complaining about the food that was served them. These Cambodian youth were not given special treatment. What the Singaporeans ate, they ate. Same box meals for everyone.

But the Cambodians said about the food: "How can they serve us such horrible food?! It's just like feeding us pig slop!" They went on and on for days on end. I felt as though each of them had taken a dagger and stabbed me in the heart over and over again. I was angry!

These kids didn't pay 1 cent to get the privilege of flying in a plane and going to another country. The Singaporean hosts paid their airfare, housing, meals, everything. Even their passports were paid for by their parents! (Mind you, back then, a passport cost USD150 to make.) Yet, instead of being grateful and appreciative, all they did was murmur and complain loudly about the food.

Finally, I had enough. I spoke to the leader of the group and told him he had to put a stop to this negative talk. The next day, no more audible complaining. I don't know if they continued to complain behind my back, but I had to do something.

Thinking back on that incident, I wonder if our tastebuds are nationalistic. We are so used to eating our national food that nothing else can hold a candle to our own food. "No Michelin starred chef can beat the cuisine of MY country," so we think. Maybe nationalism extends to food as well, from the looks of it.

Food is an integral part of our culture. So, I guess since we love and defend our culture, we likewise love and defend our food! But let's not take it to extreme. Embrace another culture, food and all. Your life will be so rich.

Have fun learning a language, a culture, and enjoy the food!

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I want to try your food

Racism. The cause of many conflicts today, big and small. What's wrong with us? Why do we get upset over the smallest things done by someone from another culture?

Perhaps one of the problems is our lack of understanding and appreciation of another's language and culture.

Am I racist? Perhaps. It irks me when someone spits on the open ground while walking on the street. I get irritated when the public toilet is filthy from people who don't seem to bother caring for public property. I felt very sad reading in the newspaper about plants at Gardens By the Bay being damaged because of visitors touching or trampling on them... The list can go on. But, do I hit someone because of these minor irritations? Of course not! I choose to live and let live.

This article shows how successfully families of different races have become firm friends. Parents were the key to unlocking the doors of each other's homes and hearts, thus involving the children as well. In all these cases, food is the common denominator. This should not be surprising, since one of the national pastimes of Singaporeans is eating! There is truth to the saying: "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach". In this case, "man" refers to any human being, rather than limited to the male gender.

I live in multi-cultural and multi-racial Singapore. I have friends of different races, cultures and skin tones. I love them all! My life is so rich because of their input. My classmate who lives in America commented that it was very difficult living in the US in the beginning. You just cannot get "everything" in the supermarket! Why is available variety fruit limited to the seasons in which they grow? Why can't I get spices I use in cooking? etc, etc. Oh, don't get me wrong. She's not racist, just practical. After all, food is very important to the Singaporean, you know.

It isn't easy getting to know and appreciate people of a different language and culture. But, we can make food the starting point, since all of us need to eat anyway. The best way to introduce yourself is to ask to learn how to cook. Be a student of the new culture. You will be pleasantly surprised!

Happy exploring another culture!

Fun Language Tools

"Language Block" - what's that?

Writer's block: writ·er's block (rtrz)
n.
A usually temporary psychological inability to begin or continue work on a piece of writing.

Noun 1. writer's block - an inability to write; "he had writer's block; the words wouldn't come"
mental block, block - an inability to remember or think of something you normally can do; often caused by emotional tension; "I knew his name perfectly well but I had a temporary block"

I live and function in a multi-cultural and multi-lingual society. The friends I see regularly converse in the following languages: English, Mandarin, Indonesian, Khmer, and Hokkien. My Facebook friends post stuff in English, Chinese, Indonesian, Khmer and Thai. I tend to post stuff in whatever language comes to mind first. If it's a quotation, I will post it in the original language with no translation. I noticed some of my friends "like" my posts even though they can't read or understand the post. I think Google Translate is their resource.

Writer's block is when the words just won't come. Mental block is when the mind goes blank. Have you experienced "language block"? That's my theory. Every now and then, I get "language block". I'm speaking in a language and suddenly, I can't think of the correct word in that language! Instead, the equivalent in another language is the 1st word that pops into my head! Now if my audience understands that language, I will use the word, instead of pausing to find the correct equivalent. This is why I find Debbie and Karen's invention of "Tinglish" so inspiring. I tend to talk that way now!

Interestingly enough, people who speak more than 1 language as a norm, would not find this confusing. I wonder why. Maybe our brains are more adept at switching languages than we think. I certainly don't get confused. In fact, I find life so much more interesting that way.

Language and culture are inextricably linked. A word in one language may not have any equivalent in another language. Some words and concepts just don't translate! My solution? Go learn a new language. Have some fun in the process. Make new friends. Learn a new culture.

Happy learning!

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"Look Who's Talking"

This story may be old, but it's worth telling. It's almost the weekend! Let's enjoy a good laugh.

My friend K called the local clubhouse to find out what movie was showing that week.

K: Hello. My name is K. May I know what movie is showing this week?

Clubhouse staff (CS): Look Who's Talking.

K: My name is K. My membership number is K2345. May I know what movie is showing this week?

CS: Look Who's Talking.

K: My name is K. My membership number is K2345. May I know what movie is showing this week?

CS: Look Who's Talking.

This went on and on for about half an hour. K kept repeating herself, trying not to get upset at what she perceived as rudeness by the Clubhouse Staff. The Clubhouse Staff just kept saying the name of the movie over and over again with no other sentences or words to clarify. Both sides were getting more and more frustrated with each other.

Then suddenly, both K and the Clubhouse Staff suddenly realised what was wrong. K thought the Clubhouse Staff wanted to know to whom she was talking. The Clubhouse Staff thought K didn't hear the name of the movie. When they both realised that different perceptions seemed to have caused frustration and miscommunication, they both started laughing. Matter solved amicably.

Remembering this story brought to mind an earlier post I'd written about the way Singaporeans communicate with one another. Neither K or the Clubhouse Staff were being rude or wrong. It's just the way we are - cut out the fluff and go straight to the point. Is that wrong? Well, that depends on which culture you come from!

I'm happy to adapt to whichever culture and language I'm in. My life is so full because of all the human interaction. Let's make this world a happier place by learning from and about one another's language and culture!

Have fun learning!

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Different races, common 3rd language

An old Chinese man got onto the bus I was on. He was carrying a heavy bag and was struggling to get on. Immediately, 2 ladies, 1 Indian and 1 Chinese, got up to give him their seat. Since the Indian lady was in front, the old Chinese man looked at her and asked, "Mau turun, ah?" (meaning "You're getting off?" in the Malay language). Since her back was facing me, I didn't see the reaction of the Indian lady, but she got off at the next stop, a short distance away.

This scenario is common in multi-racial, multi-cultural and multilingual Singapore. The old man speaks no English or Tamil (the common Indian language in Singapore). The Indian lady speaks no Chinese. But between the two of them, they both speak and understand some basic Malay, which is the national language. So, while the old man and the Indian lady are worlds apart in culture, there is a common tie that binds - the Malay language.

In the early beginnings of colonial Singapore (before independence in 1965), migrants from China and India came to Singapore to find work. The Malay people are the original residents of this land. Since everyone spoke a different language, the migrants took it upon themselves to learn the local language, Malay, to communicate with the locals, and as a result, with one another, across cultures and languages.

New immigrants to Singapore today are very different. While their reason for coming to Singapore is largely the same - search for work - their approach to living here is not.

Today, the newspaper regularly carries articles and letters citing both positive and negative examples of new immigrants. Many of them expect us locals to learn their language to communicate with them, instead of the other way around. While I enjoy learning their language, I don't necessarily agree with their attitude. But, I'm not here to say who is right or wrong. Let me first set the example by being friendly and a student of their language and culture.

Let's be students of other languages and cultures! Fun Language Tools

Multi-lingual home language

My friends Debbie and Karen are a product of a multi-cultural home. Their father is Thai and their mother is Italian. Dad was an architect in Italy when he met mom and married her. They lived in Italy for many years before moving to Bangkok. School in Bangkok for the two of them and their oldest sister, Monique, was international American school.

So what do they speak at home? Most of the time, Italian. Mom speaks only Italian and nothing else. Dad speaks Thai (of course), Italian and English. Debbie and Karen speak fluent English (from school), Italian and Thai. Monique speaks Italian and English, and is probably fluent in Thai now, having moved back from Italy several years ago. But since Debbie and Karen have been together at home longer than Monique, they speak to each other in "Tinglish". Karen said it's a mixture of Thai, Italian and English. They use words in whichever language comes to mind first. That's the special language that the 2 sisters share. Even Monique has no clue what they're saying.

I've only met their parents once. When Dad found out I was from Singapore, he spoke to me in Teochew (a Chinese dialect), to everyone's surprise! Dad is ethnic Chinese from Thailand. No one in the family ever knew that. It took me, a fellow Chinese, to bring it out of him.

We can be multi-lingual. We can be fluent in so many languages that we just can't figure out what our "heart" language is anymore. We function equally well in any language. Yet, when we meet someone who shares the same heritage as we do, suddenly the "heart" language that was buried away for so many years come out. This was the case with Dad. He'd hidden his true identity to everyone in the family, or maybe just forgotten to mention it. So many years later, it emerges because our "heart" language never dies. It's an integral part of us that never goes away. I think Dad felt an affinity to me because of our shared ethnicity being Chinese.

For Debbie and Karen, their heart language is entirely different. In fact, they have a few "heart" languages. When speaking to both Mom and Dad, they speak Italian, since Mom doesn't speak or understand anything else. But when speaking to Dad exclusively, they switch to Thai, Dad's "heart" language. But between the 2 of them, it's their own "heart" language, "Tinglish".

Have you discovered your "heart" language? Go find out what it is. You will be richer for not losing it completely.

Happy learning!

Fun Language Tools

What's your "home" language?

When you're at home, what language do you speak? Perhaps it is English, or whatever is the national language of your nation. But, it may not be "proper" or "grammatically correct". What you speak is simply what only your own family understands. Sometimes it could be very correct English, but only your family knows exactly what you're trying to say because of the nuances that accompany your words.

The writer of this letter to the Forum Page of the newspaper brought up two important points:
1. We may all have studied in English-medium schools and use English very comfortably in our daily lives, but the moment we meet someone who speaks our "home" language, we revert immediately to that language.
2. To succeed in doing business in Guangzhou or Hainan, China, today, proficiency in Cantonese or Hainanese is key.

I remember the first time I met my friend from Hong Kong. We were in New York attending a conference, followed by a Board Meeting. She knew I was from Singapore. She started speaking to me in English. Then I said to her in Cantonese, "I can speak Cantonese. I am Cantonese." Suddenly, her face lit up and she got really chatty. Today, when we meet or talk over the phone, we communicate in a mixture of Cantonese and English. For the both of us, this is our "home" language. It also gave her a sense of comfort and reassurance that she could ask me in case she didn't understand or catch the accents of the other international members of the Board.

A few years ago, natives of Hong Kong and Guangzhou organised protests against the Chinese government's decision to increase broadcasting of TV programmes in Mandarin, as opposed to Cantonese (the local dialect). Language aside, many other underlying issues are involved. Why would a small protest make the news around the world? Simply because most of the Chinese immigrants in western nations are Cantonese. This affects them too!

The language of our home and growing up years is the language of our heart. Talk to me in this language and you've unlocked my heart and home to you, a stranger. We are generally a lot more "culturalistic" (as opposed to "nationalistic") than we care to admit.

Want to touch my heart, learn my language.

Happy learning!

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Speak my language, win my respect

Here's another article in support of learning the language of our ancestors. The writer is right: lose the language and lose the culture and tradition completely. Is it any wonder then that a small group in China is trying to keep alive the Manchu language?

The writer describes his trip with his Hainanese friend to Hainan Island, China, to visit the latter's relatives. His friend could well have spoken to his relatives in Mandarin, the unifying language in China today. Yet, because his friend spoke Hainanese (their local dialect), he was accorded the greatest respect. The writer went on to say: "The intimate bonding came about because he was able to speak a dialect that is close to their hearts."

Bingo! That is the "heart of the matter" in a nutshell. It is not the language per se that touched the hearts of the relatives but the fact that someone so far removed because of migration and time, could still communicate in their "home/heart" language that made all the difference in the world. To them, this meant that this young distant relative had not lost his heritage that they hold so dear. Besides blood ties, this was the real key: language, and therefore shared heritage and culture.

Technology today is making us increasingly more alike, regardless of language or culture. We all use the same brands of computers, cell phones and tablets. Even our household appliances are the same brands. In our race to modernise, let's not lose sight of our language and culture. This is what makes us distinct, not "same as everybody else". Let's start learning our own language well, to keep the links with our past and to pass them down to our descendants.

Happy discovering and learning language and culture!

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Texting language - sometimes a mystery

Sometime ago, my friends in church used to end their text messages with "MSH". The theme for the church that year was "Mujizat Masih Ada" in the Indonesian language, which translated into English means "Miracles Still Exist" (literally).

In Indonesian text language, we remove all the unnecessary vowels of a word so that we can fit in as many words as possible in 160 characters of 1 text message. So, "MSH" to me, was short form for "masih", meaning "still", as in "miracles still exist" (above). For months, I was puzzled as to why the full phrase "Mujizat Masih Ada" was shortened so drastically to end up only being the middle word. Since the rest of the message was the important point, I simply ignored it.

Then one day, the light came on for me! "MSH" means "Miracles Still Happen"! Of course! The lady who must have translated the phrase from Indonesian to English is a very good translator and a master of the English language. "Miracles Still Exist" may be literal translation of the original phrase, but "Miracles Still Happen" is the correct meaning, and certainly sounds more correct in English. I wrote on my Facebook status update that day that I was slow, but I finally got it. All I got was peals of laughter from friends. The next text message I got from one of my church friends ended with '"MSH" not "masih"'. Sure, just rub it in. But I wasn't insulted.

Text messaging language is still sometimes a mystery to me. But I'm getting the hang of it. It isn't easy learning text language of a foreign language! Learning the correct forms of the foreign language is hard enough. But life is all about learning new things. I will not trade communicating in another language for anything in the world. My life has been so enriched because of the new friends I've made, just by being able to communicate in their heart language.

Here's to lifelong learning of new languages! This Christmas, give the gift of learning. Pick out a book, DVD or software package and bless your loved one with a gift that lasts a lifetime.

Happy learning!

Fun Language Tools

DKNY = donkey

I was walking to church when I spotted my friend and her 2 daughters (then aged 7 and 5 years) a few metres ahead of me. I walked quietly behind them as we passed the DKNY store. The older girl said, "Mummy, look! Donkey." Her mother didn't pay too much attention, so she repeated, "Mummy, donkey!" Her mother nodded and kept walking.

I had a good laugh. Children today grow up in text language, rather than fully spelled out words. Of course, we all know that "DKNY" stands for Donna Karan New York. But to this little girl who knows nothing about designer labels, DKNY is simply a short form for "donkey". Actually, the text form should be "dnky" rather than "dkny". But, what's the difference anyway? It's still "donkey" to the 7-year-old.

Well, I don't think the PR and Marketing people at DKNY would be very amused, but that's what they're there for - to change our perceptions of their brand. C'mon DKNY Marketing folks, tell us that DKNY does not mean "donkey"! Haha. Tell that to a 7-year-old! By the time she grows up to appreciate fashion, DKNY might be a label for her mother!

Branding is essential to a company. Choose your brand name carefully. You may end up with strange looks in another country just because you've wished sickness on your customer or chosen a daredevil name for your fancy car license plate. At the end of the day, it pays to know some words in another language, even if only a few. It could mean the difference between sickness and health or life and death for your company's reputation (puns fully intended).

Have fun with languages! They open up a whole new world to you!

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