Say hello to Chan Tai Man – Hong Kong’s everyman

At home In Australia I’m used to seeing “John Smith” is the usual placeholder name on forms and identity documents. But obviously placeholder names are a product of local culture, and so they’re different around the world – so in Hong Kong their everyman is named “陳大文” – Chan Tai Man.

Pedestrians and double decker buses in Hong Kong

I first found Chan Tai Man on an example of the special “Airport Staff Personalized Octopus” card.

Then as the example Hong Kong Identity Card on a bank loan application form.


Promise Easy Loan

And then on a Financial Assistance Scheme application form.


Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency

Example name on a direct debit donation form.


Evangel Children’s Home

A student visa application form.


Hong Kong Baptist University

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University ID card portal.


Hong Kong Polytechnic University

A mockup Hong Kong Police warrant card on Wikipedia.

A media release about new Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department warrant cards.


Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department

A advertisement for the Electronic Health Record Sharing System.


Department of Health

On an advertisement for ID card printers.


Photo by Kento Bento

And in a school English lesson exercise for writing a post card.


Presentation by Dylan Stokes

The Hong Kong University Press Style Guide also uses Chan Tai Man as their placeholder name.

For Hong Kong Chinese names, our preferred style is: Peter Tai-man Chan or Peter T. M. Chan.

If personal preferences are known, they should be retained.

As does this forum thread discussing how someone should include their Chinese and English names in business correspondence such as a resume or email signature.

I have both Chinese & English names. It really confuses me how I should “put” my name on my resume or in an email closing so as not to confuse native English speakers.

Say my Chinese name is CHAN Tai Man (CHAN is the last name, Tai Man is the first name) (my legal name)
My English name is Andy. (the way my friends call me or the way I expect colleagues or job interviewers call me) (not my legal name)

From the perspective of native English speakers who know little about Chinese names,
How am I supposed to “structure” my name on my resume or in the email closing so as not to confuse others?

On a darker note, I found this artwork titled “Help” by Li Wei, featuring an anonymous man named Chan Tai Man.


“Help” by Li Wei

And finally, this cute little card from a Hong Kong gift shop called ‘eye4gift’.


eye4gift

Further reading

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