Be gingerly when saying Ginger

People seemed to fail to remember how my real name is spelled, even in my name in Chinese characters. (Hands up if you could spell it correctly right away with no references but your memory) It is spelled J-I-double N-space-J-Y-H, not J-Y-N-J-Y-H or J-I-N-J-Y-H or J-I-N-N-J-Y-E or another thousand spellings. And the Chinese characters are 竟智,not 竞智, and definitely not 竞杰. Its the one with the extra line. I know it is weird (because 竞智 means "competition of intelligence" while 竟智has no meaning as the word "竟" has no meaning at all standing alone) but that's the way it is. Hammer it into your brains now, please!!!

Good, are you clear with the spelling now? Don't be too happy yet. How do/can you ACTUALLY pronounce the word "Jyh"? Three unusual consonants fused together but unlike words like 'fly' or 'try', the letter 'y' is in the middle. Worse, it's sandwiched between two challenging-to-pronounce letters. Good Lord, you might think, how can you pronounce this bloody word?

So, what most people do is to go:"Jiiinnnn..............???!?!?? *stares at the word for a very long time* Excuse me, how do you pronounce J-Y-H?" or they just simply say a possible pronunciation hoping that it is correct. Sadly, no one ever get it right the first time, and hardly anyone can remember the actual pronunciation even after the umpteenth repeat. That was how I got my millionth name pronunciation. Cool huh?

To be frank, I myself don't know how to pronounce it either until I was six. I vividly remember the day I finally know how to pronounce my name. It was a new school or rather kindergarten year in 1996. My mother enrolled me into a new kindergarten known as "The Wendy House". The day was a blissfully sunny morning with perfectly blue sky with occasional clouds and the birds are chirping happily. Soft sunlight slipped though the leaves and accented the striking red flowers of the hibiscus growing beneath it. Morning dew sparkled on the grass in the lawn of the kindergarten. I can still feel the thin layer of dawn mist laced in the air. Mosquitoes are irritating though, I had to keep slapping my feet. There's no pressure, stress or even fear of facing a new environment. Ah, those halcyon days.

Anyway, my mum dropped me and my neighbour (also six) in the kindergarten. I walked into the classroom and started playing with new friends (sadly, I forgot their names) until the teacher walked into the room. The teacher was an amiable Malay woman in her thirties whose name I cannot recall now. She ordered us into our seats and started calling names. She was fluent and fast until she reached my name. Fluency was immediately killed by the word 'Jyh'.

"Err, how do you pronounce 'J-Y-H' ah?"

"Umm, err, aahh, uuhh...", I too, was befuddled by my own name.

I never had a problem with this because no one actually asked me about the actual pronunciation before and people normally just blurt out a sound and I accepted it as my name. I never even questioned my parents how to pronounce J-Y-H. Therefore, I kept silent and lowered my head. I can feel all eyes on me. People must be thinking: who is this weirdo that doesn't even know how to read his own name?

Luckily, the teacher sensed my embarrassment and saved me by saying :" Its okay, I think its pronounced as /dƷƏː/." I nodded sheepishly. From that day onwards, that's how she and everyone in class call me.

Later that day, when I got home, I asked my mum how to pronounce my name and finally I got an answer. "Jinn" is pronounced as /dƷɪn/ "Jyh" is pronounced just like its Chinese counterpart "智", just with an extra "h" at the end. I am sorry, I seem to not to be able to find the right phonetics for the vowel in "Jyh" in English pronunciation. Ask your friends if you need help. So, hopefully you can say my name correctly now.

I have no problem with my name in the kindergarten class (I was too shy to correct the teacher later then) until the day we learn about vegetables. The whole class was reading aloud "Lettuce! Cabbage! Tomato! Spinach! Garlic! Carrot! Onion! Ginger!" The whole class stopped abruptly and looked at me in reflex. Ginger, ginger, ginger. That was how I am known as Ginger from that faithful day onwards.

Yes, I know it is a female name but it was so much easier to pronounce AND remember than "Jinn Jyh" to most people that today, I don't even bother to tell people my real name when I introduce myself. And so, the Ginger era was started. Don't feel bad if you can't say my name. You are only one in millions. Furthermore, I kind of like the name too! Still, I'd appreciate it if you at least know how my name is pronounced.

However, I'll definitely kill you if you spell or write my name wrongly. So, you better learn your spellings well today and recite "J-I-N-N-J-Y-H" flawlessly in your minds today or Ginger is out there to get you :P