In the Foreign Service we encounter lots of strange things, but one annoying thing is how the world handles names. This wouldn’t be a problem except when we have to enter them into Western databases designed for the typical Brady Bunch format – Last, First, Middle.
I just got a notice that “clearly” states how I should enter foreign names, and how to enter them into the name fields: Name1 is the western Last Name, Name2 is the First name, and so on. Here’s the actual helpful instructions I got:
- Example: Jason Alexander Chow: “Chow” goes in Name 1; “Jason Alexander” goes in Name 2.
- Example: Chow Yun Fat: “Chow” goes in Name 1; “Yun Fat” goes in Name 2.
- Example: Chow Yun Fat Jason: “Chow” goes in Name 1; “Yun Fat” goes in Name 2; “Jason” goes in Name 3.
- Example: Jason Chow Yun Fat: “Chow” goes in Name 1; “Yun Fat” goes in Name 2; “Jason” goes in Name 3.
- Example: Shanmugam s/o Subramaniam: “Shanmugam” goes in Name 1; “s/o Subramaniam” goes in Name 2. (This name contains no true surname.)
- Example: Mohamad bin Maliki bin Osman: “Mohamad” goes in Name 1; “bin Maliki” goes in Name 2; “bin Osman” goes in Name 3. (Again, this name contains no true surname.)
- Example: Mohamad bin Maliki Jones: “Jones” goes in Name 1; “Mohamad” goes in Name 2; “bin Maliki” goes in Name 3.
Now thats as clear as mud!
