Where did your name come from?

My first name is Christopher. My parents picked it since we have a short surname. They thought that Christopher would complement Ong, my surname. After all, a full name like my school friend’s, ‘Don An’, doesn’t have a good ring to it. Interestingly, I have an older cousin who’s also named Christopher. His nickname is ‘Tope’ (pronounced toh-peh), or simply ‘Pe. However, my parents insist that the similarity is only by accident. Instead, they drew inspiration from other notable namesakes, namely, Christopher Columbus and Saint Christopher, patron of travellers.

Speaking of Tope, I also had a schoolmate. This was way back in the Chinese school. He was years ahead of me. He loved playing basketball. This guy, Al, kept ‘commentating’ that Tope was making ‘a fadeaway’. He probably watched too much Jordan games. Tope would sometimes joke that ‘This shot is for you’. He’d have to say this a few times as he wasn’t a knockdown shooter.

Wellington Ong

My mum had thought about naming me Wellington. The uniqueness and novelty caught her attention. Like Christopher, Wellington does not have a Filipino translation. For instance, John is Juan and Peter is Pedro. My dad was kind of lukewarm about it. He told her that it was the name of a place. Anyhow, he did not explicitly say that he was against it. To be honest, I could see the allure of Wellington. Yes, it’s a very original appellation. She told me that I would be called Will. This reminds me of a popular scene in Mr Robot. They created this deepfake of then-Prez Obama, who says, ‘Tyler Wellick and Fsociety engaged in this….’

In my two published books, I wrote as Wellington Ong. I don’t consider the latter as my alter ego, merely an extension of myself. Think of it as Kobe’s two numbers: eight and twenty-four. He wore each number for ten seasons.When you break them down, they’re almost equally-matched. Look at it this way: I garnered uni degrees and won writing contests as Christopher. Early on, my published material was also under that name. Meanwhile, my books are under the Wellington banner.

Just Chris

Among my family and grade school classmates, I was known simply as Chris. Filipinos have close family ties and we were regulars at family gatherings. In particular, my dad’s side is quite close. We would often attend birthdays, weddings, fiestas, and holy days. It was like a bigger agape, where we would bring our cooking, cakes, and desserts to share. We would connect with our cousins and exchange stories over meals. During fiestas, pork belly was a mainstay. Other staples were morcon, caldereta, fried chicken, pancit, bihon, rice cakes, palabok, spring rolls, buko salad, and ice cream.

Topher Ong

As a high school freshman, my social studies teacher began addressing me as Topher. Another guy, a transferee, shared this nickname. I would go on to have a much more eventful time. Topher quickly became the norm, both among my peers and also my pedagogues. In senior year, I met my all-time favourite mentor/teacher. We called him Bro. (See also my older post: A Tourist’s Guide to Losing Family) He gave me all the chances that I needed. He was my strongest backer on campus. He fought in my corner and was a good conversationist. He featured my work in our yearbook. Bro was a true friend.

I wrote him an email, saying G’day (standard Aussie greeting). He began his reply with ‘G’day Topher’. I forwarded him my first short story, part of my creative writing tutorial. He loved it. His Yahoo Messenger (YM) avatar was an octopus.

A train story

At uni here in Sydney, I was back to being Chris. I made a number of pals during my time at uni. I mentioned them in my tell-all memoir. They were Mick, Pedro, Beau, Roger, Scott, Hannah, William, and Yuta. Five of them were classmates, one was an old friend, and two were fellow club members. All of them addressed me as Chris.

Once, I had a weekend appointment with my dentist. He called me as I was already late.

‘Where are you, Chris?’

‘I’m at the library.’

Upon saying this, the train announced, ‘STAND CLEAR, doors closing’.

He chuckled.

‘Chris, are you actually on the train?’

I was busted. Good thing they didn’t broadcast the next stop. I told him the truth: that I was meeting up with a friend, to do some shopping.

Social media

On social media, my accounts are under Topher Ong. I use the latter in email addresses and other accounts as well. At this point, changing my name to Wellington would be a cumbersome process. My dad asked me why I picked Wellington for my pen name? I repeated the aforementioned reasons.

‘People will think Wellington wrote your books,’ he admitted.

Some people prefer the hard way and call me Christopher. John, my acupuncturist, prefers this. I told him to call me Chris, but he likes addressing me as Christopher. Ditto a few classmates overseas.

‘The Fan’

Many moons ago, I had an ardent fan. She wrote that she was a coffee nut who drank up to three cups each day. She hailed from Masbate and studied journalism. She was a Sidney Sheldon diehard. Way back, we chatted on YM. She called me Toffy.

To be honest, she was presentable. She had long hair and initiative. She even contacted my older sister. We had common interests. We both love writing and reading good books. Like her, I used to be a coffee drinker.

Regardless, she reminded me a bit of Dobby the house elf. He yearned to be Harry Potter’s sidekick. Unfortunately, I never met her in person. I wonder what magical powers she was hiding beneath those ‘bloodshot eyes’.

She asked me if I had a girlfriend. ‘No’, I told her. ‘Just an MU’.

Once, I was chatting with the latter. I didn’t notice that the kid was sending me IMs. I felt bad as I had not intended to snub her.

Another time, she told me, ‘Your friend told me to stay away from you’.

‘Friend? Which friend?’

‘I think her name was Rhea?’

‘Rhea who?’

Later, I gathered that she picked the most attractive of my female friends and assumed (incorrectly) that she was my boo.

We lost contact. Later, I landed on her FB profile. The same day, she blocked me. Go figure.

We could call this bit as ‘The (Rabid) Fan’.

‘The Name Game’

Christopher’s have had a hand in history. They are actors like Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth. Comedians like Chris Tucker. Sailors and explorers like Christopher Columbus. Directors like Christopher Nolan. Point gods like Chris Paul.

One day, I hope that yours truly would not be another pebble on the sand but a name that would stand the test of time.