Since when did Miss Tay become Miss Taylor?
How far would you go to further your own career? Depending on the kind of industry you're working in, the types of ladder to climb vary. A more "interactive" industry where people interaction and PR skills are required will place more emphasis on presentation and appearance more than a back room operational type of job, where you only need to face computers and printers. Maybe it is not altogether off to start questioning how badly you want to excel and to what extent would you step on others or change yourself to gain the best advantages.
It helps to start from young. Aim to up some social status. And the move that reaps best result has got to be adopting a foreign name. And even that can be achieved through several ways.
1) D.I.Y
You look obviously made-in-Singapore, but have a pleasant sounding name that invoke curiosity such as Serene Tannor or Kimono Shu Zhen. Be prepared to have a convincing story to back you up. Tales like my mother is Japanese or my father is German can be hard to prove wrong if you can make sure no one knows how your dad's name is actually Lim Koh Pi or Ong Soon Huat. After you have your stories, remember to also go change your name on your IC. It's been done before. I personally know of such cases. But then you have to endure the nasty gossips and speculations going on. I suppose if you are hungry enough for an "atas" name, you probably won't mind.
2) Marry an authentic foreign name.
If fabricating tales is not your forte, marry the real deal. Once again, I know people who have done that so it's not entirely a far-fetched option. And this move has more crediblity than claiming your father's surname is Leeson or Ongele or Liulli (depending on your nationality-preference.) The benefit of marrying a real "Tanner" or "Taylor" is that they also act as an arm-candy or accessory when you go out. Also you might catch on the infectious accent, which is another factor in upping the social status and definitely sits well if you're in the more "out-going" industries where you have to meet clients.
Which brings us to another point: Accent!
A friend once pointed out the Singaporean accent kinda vulgarify things simply because of the way people say things. I kinda agree. But even in Singapore there are several types of accent. The Englishfied Sg accent, which can be found in those who attend A Certain School and perhaps some in those Really Just Cringe-worthy few. And there's the "wahlaueh.. why like that one?" way of speaking, which is less formal but rather common. And there are "people who do not speak English at all" accent, which I find jarring but sometimes I understand it can't be helped. But what I find most irritating has got to be FAKE accent!
Fake Accent People (FAP for short) either have stayed in Beverly Hills for too long, or watched Beverly Hills for too long. Like recently, I know of cases where people spend just like a week in London and return with like fabulously sing-song British accent! It must be like the lovely weather in UK or simply the miraculous beer. And what's like even more interesting is the fact that like some times, the FAP forgot about the lovely weather and beer that they blurt out "la! lohs! or lehs!" to like the amazement of those around them.
Or Mary who is an authentic Singaporean, married to Larry, who is from America, and she was suddenly infected with a horrible disease I think bc now she speaks with an American twang which she adopted and carried to work, torturing her poor co-workers, who felt the pressure to alter their accent when speaking to her. But no one complains bc Mary is the boss!
It's fun I think for those of us surrounded by FAP bc we are constantly trying to spot such blunders and loopholes and readily accuse these peeps of being fake! But isn't it also sad that these people feel the need to armour themselves with such extra traits thinking it will put them in better light? And even sadder I think is that it does cast a better light on them.
But I think if accent and fake names-turn-real did not help, there will always be people who are willing to sleep their way up the ladder, and sadly I've also heard of tales like that which circulates even in school campuses. When I say some things are better when started out young, I wasn't really thinking of this.
At the end of the day, it all boils down to personal choices and integrity. I'd not be jealous of the FAP or the "Tannors", but I would wonder how they sleep at night, even for those who could sleep their way up.
BTW: Does Serene Tannor or Serene Tanatsuya sound better?
It helps to start from young. Aim to up some social status. And the move that reaps best result has got to be adopting a foreign name. And even that can be achieved through several ways.
1) D.I.Y
You look obviously made-in-Singapore, but have a pleasant sounding name that invoke curiosity such as Serene Tannor or Kimono Shu Zhen. Be prepared to have a convincing story to back you up. Tales like my mother is Japanese or my father is German can be hard to prove wrong if you can make sure no one knows how your dad's name is actually Lim Koh Pi or Ong Soon Huat. After you have your stories, remember to also go change your name on your IC. It's been done before. I personally know of such cases. But then you have to endure the nasty gossips and speculations going on. I suppose if you are hungry enough for an "atas" name, you probably won't mind.
2) Marry an authentic foreign name.
If fabricating tales is not your forte, marry the real deal. Once again, I know people who have done that so it's not entirely a far-fetched option. And this move has more crediblity than claiming your father's surname is Leeson or Ongele or Liulli (depending on your nationality-preference.) The benefit of marrying a real "Tanner" or "Taylor" is that they also act as an arm-candy or accessory when you go out. Also you might catch on the infectious accent, which is another factor in upping the social status and definitely sits well if you're in the more "out-going" industries where you have to meet clients.
Which brings us to another point: Accent!
A friend once pointed out the Singaporean accent kinda vulgarify things simply because of the way people say things. I kinda agree. But even in Singapore there are several types of accent. The Englishfied Sg accent, which can be found in those who attend A Certain School and perhaps some in those Really Just Cringe-worthy few. And there's the "wahlaueh.. why like that one?" way of speaking, which is less formal but rather common. And there are "people who do not speak English at all" accent, which I find jarring but sometimes I understand it can't be helped. But what I find most irritating has got to be FAKE accent!
Fake Accent People (FAP for short) either have stayed in Beverly Hills for too long, or watched Beverly Hills for too long. Like recently, I know of cases where people spend just like a week in London and return with like fabulously sing-song British accent! It must be like the lovely weather in UK or simply the miraculous beer. And what's like even more interesting is the fact that like some times, the FAP forgot about the lovely weather and beer that they blurt out "la! lohs! or lehs!" to like the amazement of those around them.
Or Mary who is an authentic Singaporean, married to Larry, who is from America, and she was suddenly infected with a horrible disease I think bc now she speaks with an American twang which she adopted and carried to work, torturing her poor co-workers, who felt the pressure to alter their accent when speaking to her. But no one complains bc Mary is the boss!
It's fun I think for those of us surrounded by FAP bc we are constantly trying to spot such blunders and loopholes and readily accuse these peeps of being fake! But isn't it also sad that these people feel the need to armour themselves with such extra traits thinking it will put them in better light? And even sadder I think is that it does cast a better light on them.
But I think if accent and fake names-turn-real did not help, there will always be people who are willing to sleep their way up the ladder, and sadly I've also heard of tales like that which circulates even in school campuses. When I say some things are better when started out young, I wasn't really thinking of this.
At the end of the day, it all boils down to personal choices and integrity. I'd not be jealous of the FAP or the "Tannors", but I would wonder how they sleep at night, even for those who could sleep their way up.
BTW: Does Serene Tannor or Serene Tanatsuya sound better?
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