I attach a news story in The Straits Times today. See? It’s ‘kabuki’, not ‘Japanese Opera’. The Japanese have pride, the Chinese don’t.

Kabuki master wows Paris (The Straits Times, 12Feb 2013)

Paris – The Peony Pavilion, a classical Chinese opera directed by and starring Japanese kabuki master Tamasaburo Bando, won a standing ovation at its premiere in Paris on Sunday.

Many Japanese, including some women dressed in traditional kimonos, were in the audience at the Theatre de Chatelet to see Bando, who was named a Living National Treasure in July last year.

It was his first performance in Paris in 25 years and the first staging of his version of The Peony Pavilion outside of Asia.

Around 60 actors and musicians performed in the abbreviated version of the Ming Dynasty masterpiece, which runs to 55 acts in the original.

Bando, 62, plays the heroine Du Liniang, the daughter of an important official, in the complex love story.

The show, a collaboration with Suzhou Kun Opera Theatre of Jiangsu Province in China, runs till Saturday.

Bando also presented Jiuta, a production which features three classic Japanese traditional dance pieces, earlier this month in Paris.

He was named a Living National Treasure for his work as an onnagata – a kabuki actor for female roles – by the Japanese government.

Agence France-Presse

Anyway Pinyin has nothing to do in Hong Kong, it’s just neo-colonialism and eradication of the local culture.

Honestly one of those bamboo pora-thearters that tour the outlying islands would be much better and a wee bit cheaper I suspect. Those things are bona fide real “organic Chinese “Culture”, though dieing out now.

A good gauge is the entertainment industry. It is rare to find a Chinese star (esp. from HK or Taiwan) who *doesn’t* have a foreign name. In contrast, it’s rare to find a Japanese, Korean, Thai, Malay, Vietnamese, etc. star who does.

Britons who take on pre-Norman names, for example, or Welsh, Irish, Gaelic, etc. may do so for political reasons, but I don’t think there’s an equivalent in China or Chinese names, at least not today.

SO, back to Hong Kong’s ‘Xiqu Centre’. The objection among many Hongkongers is of course Pinyin and the mainlandisation that it implies. Like I said, HK is part of China now whether they like it or not. How long does HK want to stay ‘special’? How long CAN it stay special? Who knows. My suggestion for Xiqu Centre? Perhaps ‘Centre for Traditional Chinese Theatre’ because xiqu is a total theatre – there’s acting, singing, music, acrobatics, dancing, recitals…much more than just an ‘opera’.

Why this cultural cringe? So unworthy of a culture that keeps telling the rest of the world non-stop that it is 5,000 years old and oh, how great it is and all that crap. LOL

The problem with Chinese brands is not enough leave the confines of their culture and not enough understand branding enough. Huawei and Haier both have futures. Xiqu is a bit harder to say only because the X and Q sounds are drastically different in English, but if I could say Mitsubishi I can learn to say that too.

But you know, that’s just part of the equation. I honestly don’t mind if people want to keep using their own name in another language. It’s just that they should then be prepared to start every conversation with a new person by explaining exactly how they are called, how to spell it, and so on. I mean, when I do use my full name, that’s always how it goes. A minute or two goes by before they get it right. Which is fine for friends or long-term colleagues. But what about quick conversations?

As for learning pinyin, it’s just a matter of time in a way. Of course, if Chinese products can capture a large market share people will get more familiar with it. The question of course is whether they can capture such a large market share with hard to remember and hard to reproduce names. Maybe they can, then there’s nothing to worry about anyway.

Honestly, from my perspective, knowing Mandarin and all, I’d prefer for them to stick to pinyin, I really do. Because at this point it just makes sense for Mandarin. And quite frankly I’d hate it if they started changing it and we suddenly have to eat doe-foo or go out at woo-dow-koh. But of course my opinion in that way is biased, so I’m trying to look at it from a company’s perspective abroad. You know, you can either call your company Lianxiang and just see what people are gonna do with it. Or you can name it Lenovo and start building your brand without confusion about names. Alternatively you can spell it out phonetically but that is more confusing imho. Lee-yan-shang. Doesn’t look cool either.

Alternatively Chinese companies could start a joint platform teaching people how to pronounce the names more actively. For example, by using the Chinese name in TV ads, and having the voice-over pronounce it very clearly. But even then, where does it end? Do you want people to get the tones right? Or is it okay for them to call your brand lian3xiang4 instead of lian2xiang3? I mean, in the first case it sounds more like it’s a cosmetics company. How far do you want to take this?

The bottom line is: pride in your own language as reflected in how you present it to the rest of the world. The Japanese, Koreans, Thais, etc. have this pride. The Chinese seems not to have it.

Re: names. If one emigrate to a foreign land, sure. Take on a local name to integrate. (Though I would argue that it is less necessary nowadays with the mulitculturalism being celebrated in most big cities). In HK, for example, it is actually *rare* to find a Chinese person without a western name. What for when 95 percent of the population are Chinese persons who speak mostly Cantonese to one another? So while the Peters, Pauls and Marys are happy to be Peters, Pauls and Marys, despite the fact that these names are culturally foreign, they get ballistic when the Pinyin ‘Xiqu’ appears on a building. (Peters, Pauls and Marys who are Chinese Christians excluded.)

What’s at work here is that some (many?) HK people simply hate the mainland. Which is fine. But what to do? Last time I check, it is still the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. Live with it, work within it, celebrate it, whatever. It’s not going to go away. Alternatively, like many HK people I know, they can go away.

Note: I’m neither pro-HK or pro-mainland. I don’t give a shit. It’s something for the Chinese to work out among themselves.

Many Canto and Hong Kongers who first immigrated over found it easier to adopt western names, or adopt western names at home to deal with people. Also in those areas with British influence, they like adopt British Christianized names when they convert or do business because it’s more formal.

A lot of laogai (what cantonese people here call northerners) don’t change their LEGAL names when the immigrate, however southerners who came before the 2000′s I notice have anglicized names, but most of us over here are Cantonese. It’s also a fun thing to do, to have an English nickname because you pick it yourself.