In those parts of the Chinese world which have at some time in their illustrious histories been blighted by British rule, a curious phenomenon has taken place. Required, for the purposes of official documentation and other such, to adopt English names, Chinese accross the planet find themselves with a third initial.

So far so good.

To the English observer, however, the names of choice may seem somewhat bizarre. Due perhaps to the relinquishment of imperial control in the earlier decades of the century, one might hypothesise that the pool of names in popular circulation have been locked in time.

In the chic metropolises of East Asia, from Shanghai to Hong Kong and Singapore, we find find communities populated with the bearers of names like Audrey Wong, Phyllis Leung, Raymond Zhu, Gladys Ng and Arthur Wu.

Names to the make any Victorian English mother a proud woman!