People used to treat Jieh-Yung Lo differently when he called himself J-Lo, but he no longer wants to use the nickname.
But some people with hard to pronounce names experience negative impacts including being socially excluded.
Jieh-Yung Lo is the director of the Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership at The Australian National University."A lot of people in the Labor party, which I am no longer a member of, they still call me J-Lo," he said."I felt like I was betraying my heritage and my identity, as well as betraying my parents," he said.
Your name is one of the most important things that your parents give you, especially in the Chinese contextJieh-Yung was vindicated when he was elected using his real name, and at the age of 23, became the first Chinese-Australian to sit on Monash council in Melbourne. Dr Fiona Swee-Lin Price is a cross-cultural communication specialist who has worked with universities for decades to help them pronounce students' names at graduation ceremonies and in other settings.
She said some Chinese people used different names in different contexts, and other cultures encouraged people to adopt new names when they reached adulthood."If people choose to change their names and they're comfortable with that decision, there's an argument that you should actually respect that," she said.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Turkey-Syria quake death toll doubles to at least 3,500 people deadPrime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed there had been no Australian causalities caught in the Turkey-Syria earthquake at this stage after the death toll doubled to at least 3,500 people dead, with fears it could rise further amid search for survivors.
Read more »
‘Catastrophic’ earthquake in Turkey and Syria kills at least 3,800 peopleDozens of countries offer help as rescue workers and residents frantically search for survivors after devastating 7.8-magnitude tremor
Read more »
This lifelong surfer has saved multiple people from drowning, and he's not aloneInverloch surfer Max Wells has rescued several people from the water since he started surfing and a new study has proven he's not alone.
Read more »
Firebomber with two people on board crashes in Western AustraliaThe Boeing 737 Airliner had been fighting fires in the area when the plane went down about 4.15pm (7.15pm AEDT) but the pilots somehow survived.
Read more »
Firebomber with two people on board crashes in Western AustraliaThe Boeing 737 Airliner had been fighting fires in the area when the plane went down about 4.15pm (7.15pm AEDT) but the pilots somehow survived.
Read more »