What's in a name...

Well, Da-Yong is now 21 days old and he is growing more active with more facial expressions by the day. We are now only waiting for him to smile socially (not just in his sleep). Hmmm..I wonder, when he smiles in his sleep, what is he dreaming about? :-)

In anycase, while he is resting a little and keeping a little quiet, I thought I might take this time to update this blog a little. I'm sure many people (especially those of the Chinese descent) might find it weird why I named my child Da-Yong which can be directly translated to be Big Courage. A little cultural background, Da or Big is not a common first name as it isn't easy to choose a middle name with that. However, in my family (Chiam), that name, Da has already been chosen by my ancestors from my ancestralvillage in China. The Chinese first name is what we call a generation name. Just like my name, Siong Heng, Siong is actually the name used by ALL my cousins (those who are still traditionalist). Thus, my brother and all my cousins will have the same first name. What makes our names unique is our middle name as in my case, Siong Heng, my brother, Siong Chin, my cousin, Siong U etc. In the case of my son and all of his generation, Da is the stipulated first name. Actually, based on literature from my home family village, my father's generation is Kong, my generation is Siong, my son's generation is Da and my grandson's generation is Keat.

Also, I do intend on registering my son's birth with my home village in China. Now, I just have to find a way to do so....

Finally, I do intend (to my best ability) to ensure that my son keep to this proud family tradition and name his sons Keat....