To date, I’ve taught in eight different kindergartens throughout Hong Kong. There are definite differences between schools on Hong Kong Island and The New Territories. Like most things, it boils down to money. Hong Kong Island has it, along with better language skills and facilities. At the Hong Kong Island Chinese school where I teach, I could have a fluent conversation with many of my students…a much better conversation than with the teachers in the New Territories, who consequently teach English as a daily subject. I know only a small handful of students in the New Territories who are English savvy and they are either Middle Eastern or British. And recently, there have been many Chinese parents complaining that proper English schooling left Hong Kong along with British rule in the late 90’s. This has lead to a rise in tuition fees for International schooling.
But, money and language skills aside, there is one glaring similarity with these schools: weird English names.
I know more “Kittys” than I care to admit. I’m sure that “Hello Kitty” is to blame. A boy named “Patience” reminds me of what I need in full-force. Then there are the “Bo-bos” and “Yo-yos”, which are girl names. Tasty names include “Milk”, “Cherry” and “Apple”, the last one being a boy’s name. I know many “Wings” and “Wing-Wings”. I get excited when I see “Cheerry” because she takes me back to my Care Bear days. Although she’s probably not named after Cheer Bear. Someone just spelled “Cherry” wrong.
Who names these kids? Most of them get stuck with absurd names when they are only 3 years old. At some point, they’ll need some help with a new name if they want to be taken seriously by foreigners. Especially the six year old boy I know who sports the name tag “Harry Sin.”
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