My readers know me as Jan Thompson, my married name and also my author name. Originally, I had wanted to use my maiden name of Jan Lim for brevity and so that it could fit across one line on my book covers (you know, visibility and all). However, my hubby vetoed that, saying that since I’m married, I should use my married name. So Jan Thompson it is. In any case, since this is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I thought I’d mention a little bit about my roots.
I was born in Malaysia of Chinese and Japanese descent, and grew up on the beautiful tropical island of Penang, surrounded by the longest straits in the world, the Straits of Malacca, that opens up to the Andaman Sea, beyond which is the Indian Ocean. I was told that the Japanese side of my family came from Taiwan. However, I have never met any relatives outside of Malaysia and Singapore, where most of my family still live.
Even though I’m Asian American today, I’m still trying to reconnect with my family origins by learning Mandarin Chinese. Why? Because back in Malaysia, I went to an English-medium school and I failed to learn the Chinese language, and am therefore illiterate in the mother tongue of my grandparents on both sides, although I must say that they spoke more Hokkien in their homes back when they were all still alive. Unfortunately for me, having lived outside of Asia for some thirty seven years, I’ve forgotten most Hokkien.
In any case, better late than never. I’ve taken Mandarin Chinese lessons with an in-person teacher, but since I made no progress, I’m now taking a simplified course using an app on my phone. However, I know what my Chinese name means, so here we go:
My Malaysian Chinese name is Lim Jan Edttii (in the homeland, you put the family name (surname) first before the given name). Jan has no Chinese word. But Lim Edttii is literally 林藝蒂:
林 Lin: forest (my family name)
藝 or 艺 Yi: art
蒂 Di: from 并蒂莲 bing di lian (according to my mother, it’s “flowers blooming twice on the same stalk”)
So why is Yi Di spelled Edttii? It’s a regional thing, IMHO. Since Malaysia was a British Colony, many names have been romanized. Credits go to my mother for inventing the spelling of Edttii that merged Edith and Eddie. She liked it. For most of my life, my parents nicknamed me Eddie. My brothers now call me Jan so that my husband knows who they’re referring to LOL.