Cynthia Ma Shwe Sin Win

This entry is not about MBA, but about my name, my long and complicated name. As I was born in Burma, I don't have a surname! I know this is shocking to so many people who know their family tree. Burma is the only country in the whole world (I think!) where its people do not have surnames. So technically I do not have a surname. The last word in my Dad's name is "Win" and I also have it in my name, so that makes "Win" my surname (supposedly)! I can't say "Win" is my surname because my brother does not have the word "Win" in his name. He has the word "Aung" in his name which is the second word in Dad's name. So my 'surname' is "Win" and my brother's 'surname' is "Aung", when we are born from the same parents, same Mum & Dad!

Anyway, when I was born, my Mum named me "Shwe Sin Win". "Win" is from my Dad's name, "Shwe Sin" is supposed to be my first name. It means 100% pure gold, which is the same name as the Oscar awards in Burma. So all my friends in Burma called me "Shwe Sin". Then when I was 9 years old, we migrated to Singapore. The passport section in Burma had the rule to add "Ma" in front of all female applicants and "Maung" in front of all male applicants. So when I arrive in Singapore, my name became "Ma Shwe Sin Win" where "Ma" is an addition, meaning "Miss".

In Singapore, you either have a Chinese, Malay or an Indian name. My name was short words without any bin or binte like Malay names, son of or daughter of like Indian names, and I took Chinese as my second language so my name is classified as a Chinese name. The Chinese language teacher even gave me a Chinese name based on translation from my Burmese name. My Chinese name is Rui Xin Wei. For Chinese, the first word is surname, the last two words (usually) is the first name. So "Xin Wei" became my first name in Chinese class and "Sin Win" became my first name in other classes. "Sin Win" is actually the second word of my first name plus my 'surname'. But all my friends in Singapore calls me "Sin Win".

When I was in Secondary School, I began to realise the ease of using an English name. I realised non-Chinese friends have some difficulty with my name, some remembering me as "Win Sin" instead and so on. So I asked my mum to choose an English name for me and she chose "Cynthia" whereby "Cyn" has the same pronounciation as "Sin" in my name. So I started using "Cynthia" as my first name for non official matters and began to get used to it. So when I applied for my MBA in Australia, I used "Cynthia" as my first name as it is much easier to remember. So "Ma Shwe Sin" becomes my middle name and "Win" remains as my 'surname'. So now I am known as "Cynthia" to my friends in Australia. However, "Cynthia" is neither in my Passport nor my Identity Card.

When someone calls me "Shwe Sin", that must be a friend from Burma. When someone calls me "Sin Win", that must be a friend from Singapore. When someone calls me "Cynthia", that must be a friend from Australia. =)