I have three nicknames

What’s the story behind your nickname?

Neng is what my family calls me (exclusively). It’s very dear to me. It’s usually the nickname being the youngest daughter amongst Filipinos.

Aina has been my nickname among my friends and school mates, even to my coworkers and all others. I’d appreciate if you call me Aina.

Tweety was my chat name on a national cable network chatroom in the Philippines in the early 2000s. It was my name behind exposè on donation scam, prostitution and drug rings happening in that media platform. Tweety bird is tattooed on my right hand.

Some Hawaiians or Hawaii locals are uncomfortable calling me Aina, as it means the land, the sacred land here in Hawaii. That they rather sabotage my legal first name, Sabiniana than calling me Aina. But I got the nickname long, long before I got here. And I don’t have any intention of misleading others of my race, as I believe on equity and equality, and inclusion.

Finally, I really do believe that when calling someone by that person’s nickname—whether knowingly or unknowingly—you’re establishing closeness, not necessarily intimacy, but again closeness. It breaks the invisible wall that inhibits closer connections.