Hi! I am OKJ, Documentary Storyteller

"Hi! I am OKJ."

Be it in person or on camera - that is how I usually introduce myself. Though obviously, this was not always the case.

My name is Ong Kah Jing, and I was named by my parents, who are both of Singapore Chinese/Hokkien Descent. I do not have an English name, and neither does my brother. Curiously both my sisters, Joyce and Joann, do. My parents jokingly revealed that my brother and I were not bestowed with an English name because it will be our wives that will name us instead. But unfortunately for my girlfriend of 10 years, whom I have been married to for over a year, I have long decided that any new name for me would just feel 'off'.

My Name Is...

Now, I do not have any particular liking to my name - though I do harbour a strong attachment of familiarity to it. While I acknowledge that the world may feel it a little inconvenient to say or remember - such a factor would certainly not be enough to compel me to change. But in a world of systems built predominantly by the West - there are other irritating problems with this conviction.

This platform (LinkedIn) itself was a key reason for me adopting OKJ as my public tag. When I first created my account - I was adamant to get my name right - order and all. But surnames come last so often that LinkedIn, like many other platforms, had made it compulsory to set one's surname at the back, regardless of cultural context.

My name is not Kah Jing Ong.

Naturally, I had done what some others may have tried to do in adapting to this limitation, such asyping one's first name as the surname and vice versa. It was a stopgap solution which became weird when the systems passed that data on to others for action. I have been greeted as Mr Ong, Mr Kah and Mr Jing - all by well-intentioned people who had made this small but frustrating error.

Such frustrations are shared by some of my peers whom I had seen adopting new English names to adapt to the world around them. One is at a disadvantage when their name is hard to remember and easy to forget. Now, I am not implying that such an action can only be seen as a concession. But I am saying that I, myself, am too stubborn to do so.

will.i.am

Inspiration comes from anywhere. But I never would have guessed that in my struggle for naming conventions, inspiration would come from will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. Since my childhood, I have never questioned how the name of celebrities came about. From Lady Gaga to Snoop Dogg, it never felt weird to say their names out loud because that was how I first learnt of their reputation.

So you can imagine my dumbfoundedness when I learnt one day that will.i.am's real name is William. So simple, and yet so effective in standing out from the crowd.

By the time I had this revelation, I had been using the acronym "KJ" for a number of years. It was more for convenience and to save myself from further frustration. But my professional communications were still signed off with my name, Ong Kah Jing - and so the aforementioned frustrations continued.

In thinking of how to adapt to this world, yet stubbornly staying true to my name, while also avoiding a growing crowd of KJs in the world - I looked to the simplicity of will.i.am as inspiration and settled for OKJ.

What's in a name?

Why put so much thought into a name?

I do confess that it may seem quite melodramatic if there is no justification in this context.

One’s ego is certainly a factor worth acknowledging. Why go through the headache of crafting one's moniker if he does not want it to be heard, uttered, or more importantly, remembered. Pride is another, though not in a seven deadly sins kind of way

In as many avenues where OKJ is typed, the descriptor 'Documentary Storyteller' should surely be near. I yearn to justify my pride about my works - embossing my documentaries with my initials is an indicator of a standard, a promise and a relationship.

It is also why my company and brand is called OKJ Works. For that is what I do and what others might hopefully say of me too.

And if I work at it hard enough, with consistency and a little bit of luck - then one day my reputation may precede me.

Making a name for myself

In 2018, I visited the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. It was also the first time I introduced myself as OKJ to strangers and soon-to-be friends.

In their digital database, I wrote my full name 'Ong Kah Jing' as my first name, with '(OKJ)' as my last name. Unintentionally, due to the brackets being a symbol, that made my profile appear as the first result for all users who searched the platform for their intended contact.

This was only made known to me while waiting to attend masterclasses and making light conversation, and a few people knew me and my documentary because of it.

It may have been a humble mistake - but the way these people accepted OKJ so surely imbued me with confidence. And that was much needed when I returned back to Singapore, which had a much harder time accepting my adoption of three initials.

There was once when a potential client even asked me if she could call me KJ instead as OKJ seemed too much of a hassle. Ironic given her name also had three syllables.

I would be lying if I said that I did not feel at times like retreating back to the status quo. My peers of Chinese descent were perhaps the most awkward to accept this change. I can only ponder why.

But it has been three years since I had first publicly represented myself as OKJ, and it now feels more comfortable than ever to continue making a name for myself. I am grateful that my media appearances have allowed me to carry this name, and others would also use it in kind.

In the years to come, I hope to make that trend continue - but more importantly, to continue doing the work to make it mean something worthwhile.

And so, my name is Ong Kah Jing. But you can call me OKJ.