Rey is from the Philippines, but he’s lived so many years abroad, that he goes by Ray now.
The simple vowel change might seem like a typo or a mistake, but it’s the difference between two duelling identities that this man faces.
Rey is the unique spelling that is a nod to his Filipino roots. Handy for his current job as a warden of a foreign labour dormitory where a lot of fellow countrymen call home.
Ray, on the other hand, is the western-friendly spelling of his name, one that connotes a global citizen of the world. It’s the form that belies the 22-odd manual labour jobs he has done in his time as an overseas foreign worker and the chaos and uncertainty that followed his first move to Taipei.
The pronunciation may be the same, but each name carries a legacy. One that can’t be so easily forgotten as the 10 minute short goes to show…
Watch ‘My Name is Rey, My Name is Ray’ by Tey Kok Kau (Taiwan) on Viddsee:
‘My Name is Rey, My Name is Ray’ was screened at the “Migrant Worker in Taiwan-Exhibition of Labor” 2012 and was part of the official selection at the 2013 Taiwan Urban Nomad Film Festival.