Byt namn och bli lyckligare - iallafall tror Kineser att lyckan sitter i ditt namn

One afternoon in April, Mandy Pang’s worst fears came true.

She was summoned onto a Zoom with her boss on short notice. Due to the economic downturn from the pandemic, she was being made redundant at her marketing job.

Angry and hurt, the 29-year-old Hong Konger went back home and began brooding over memories from her previous jobs, and the “bad luck” that seemed to be holding her hostage.

A month later, still looking for work, Pang decided she knew what she had to do: change her legal name in a bid to shake off her bad luck and improve her future prospects.

She says, “My mother’s friend told me that the new name can help me fend off ‘petty people’” – those who have a negative influence over her life.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20201209-why-some-chinese-believe-a-name-change-could-improve-luck