A rose by any other...

So on the fifth day, my dad decided to go to his clan for a new year gathering. I decided to go along since I've never been inside before. To join the clan, you won't be discriminated because of your gender, your salary, your religion, your educational level, the colour of your skin, the languages you speak, or whether you're married or single. But there's only one restriction; you have to have Yen/Gan as your surname.

Living in Singapore for the past couple of decades, I believe I've only met one single person with the same surname as me. It was shocking to come here and see 200 people with the same family name. Look, there's no inherently good reason why they should all be assembled under the same roof. It just happens that they have the same name!

So what happens if you don't have this surname? Well, say if you're a Lee, or a Chen, there's another clan just for you right round the corner... Therein lies the dilemma. What happens when you want to join another clan? Let's say there's a pretty girl in the Wu (Tang) clan, and you wanna join for obvious reasons. You can't. You are stopped by a single technicality. You were born in the wrong family and adopted the wrong name. However, the situation can be rectified by a quick trip to your lawyer to have your name changed.

Maybe the West could adopt a similar thing. The most popular English surname seems to be Smith. So there can be a Smith clan. All Agents are eligible for membership too. I'm not sure whether the clan would be hit by some class action suit arguing discrimination against potential members. I guess one needed take it too seriously. It's supposed to be a fun thing!

More pictures here.