Mon, May 10, 2010 page3

• FEATURE : Name-changers-to-be rejoice about choice

  WHAT’S IN A NAME? Despite years of appeals, one man who wanted to take his mother’s surname could not do so because a judge asked for his father’s consent

  • By Loa Iok-sin / STAFF REPORTER
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  Children who use — or would like to use — their mother’s family name celebrated the first Mother’s Day yesterday after an amendment to the Civil Code was recently passed allowing adults to choose their own family name.

  “I’ve waited for this day for many, many years. I will file the application [for family name change] as soon as the law takes effect,” a man (currently) surnamed ­Chuang (莊) said at the celebration in Taipei.

  Before the amendment was adopted by the legislature at the end of last month, a person — whether underage or an adult — could only change his or her family name upon receiving the consent of both parents.

  The newly adopted amendment will take effect when the president signs it into law, which is expected to happen later this month.

  Although still carrying his father’s family name, 31-year-old Chuang has not seen his ­father for nearly 30 years after his mother, Chang Shu-chen (張淑珍), divorced his father when he was very young.

  Over the past few years, ­Chuang has been appealing to change his family name, but has always been rejected by the court “because the judge said carrying my father’s family name would not have any negative impact on my life and that my father never committed capital crimes,” he said.

  In fact, Chuang’s father was repeatedly abusive, which was the reason why ­Chuang’s parents divorced.

  “The judge asked for the father’s consent, but where do I find his father after decades of not being in touch?” Chuang’s mother said.

  However, even with consent from both parents, there are still other obstacles hindering children from taking their mothers’ family name.

  Lin Meng-ying (林孟瑩), a mother of three daughters, said she and her husband had already agreed to give one of their daughters their father’s family name, while another would take the mother’s surname.

  “My eldest daughter takes her father’s family name, so, originally, the second daughter was to take my family name,” Lin said. “However, when my second daughter was born, we didn’t know how to raise the issue with our parents.”

  Their second daughter was also given her father’s surname.

  Finally, Lin and her husband were determined that their third daughter, who was born three years ago, would take Lin’s name.

  “We still didn’t know how to talk to our parents about it so we just went directly to the Household Registration Office to register my surname as my third daughter’s surname. We only told our parents about it afterward,” Lin said.

  “They were a little shocked and upset that we didn’t talk to them about it first, but fortunately they became more ­accepting later on and there was no serious conflict,” she said.

  Green Party Taiwan member Calvin Wen (溫炳原) and his wife Sandra Peng (彭渰雯) went through what he called a “small family revolution” before getting both sets of grandparents to agree to let their grandson Peng Chuan (彭川) take his mother’s surname.

  “It was especially difficult to convince my parents because my family is a big Hakka family and are more traditional,” Wen said.

  Not only were Wen’s parents opposed to the idea, but also Wen’s sister and Peng’s parents.

  Wen tried to explain the idea of gender equality in a way his parents could understand, and he even went as far as explaining how, according to fortune tellers, the name Peng Chuan could be beneficial to the child’s future.

  “My parents finally agreed to it after I threw the divination blocks in front of our ancestral tablet and received three ‘yes’ replies from our ancestors,” Wen said.

  The divination blocks are a pair wooden blocks in the shape of a crescent moon that people use to ask immortals, ancestors or a deceased person for their opinion. One block facing down while the other is facing up after being thrown to the ground implies a “yes” answer.

  In fact, the two-character name Peng Chuan is also the result of a compromise, Wen said.

  “The idea was to call him Peng Chuan when we’re in Taipei, but when we go back to Meinong [美濃, a predominantly Hakka township in Kaohsiung County], we can add my surname and call him Wen Peng-chuan [溫彭川],” he said.

  Although Wen’s parents agreed to the decision, if Peng Chuan falls ill, Wen’s mother will still sometimes blame it on him bearing his mother’s surname.

  With the passage of the amendment, Wen hopes that more people will be more accepting about the idea of taking either the mother’s or the father’s family name.

  “We’re happy about the law change, but we know we still have a long way to go,” Wen said. “For instance, I’m still trying to figure out how my child’s name will be registered in the family book since he’s probably the first kid to bear his mother’s surname under regular circumstances.”
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