What is in a name?


Plenty! Hi.. my name is EMILY OCTAVIA. Some friends know me as Mary. How is that so? My daughters ask me that same question everytime friends from my hometown calls me Mary.


It probably started the day I was born. I believe that my mom when asked what the baby’s name was had said “Emily” with that heavy Kadazan accent which came out as “Ih miree”. Thus Mary was born!


I come from a family of six, two boys and four girls. Safe for the two youngest siblings, we all grew up calling each other nicknames like ako basal, ako kici, Al and Didi. During my childhood, I remember being always called Mary or at home, Didi. Not until I was twelve did I find out that I am actually, EMILY OCTAVIA… now ain’t that swell?


How did I find out? My standard 6 class teacher had to fill an official form for students taking the standard 6 exam. Everybody had to bring along their birth certificates for verification. I remember reading the birth cert and wondering why there isn’t Mary mentioned anywhere. Then Ms Catherine called me up.


She asked me “What is your name?”.
I said “Mary”.
She said “Why do you say that is your name?”.
I said “Because that’s what everyone calls me”.
She said, “You are not Mary! You have a beautiful name, EMILY OCTAVIA. Use it from now on!”.


Thus how I discovered my beautiful name…


People tend to give neighbours and friends nicknames whether they like it or not. I know mum doesn’t like the name that people calls her behind her back! Of course there are nicknames given to a person that personifies that person’s character and it is endearing to some degree. Nevertheless it is time to stop giving silly nicknames and use that persons actual name, don’t you think?.... there are many people whose nicknames stuck to them like gum and nobody remembers the actual names anymore.

Growing up in a village has its ups and downs and having that familiarity is a blessing and a curse. Sad, but that’s how life is; La vie est comme ça!