Colleagues mistakenly think I am a prostitute because my mum calls me "Bebi-Ji"

A Stomper has been receiving insults at her workplace after she was misunderstood to be a prostitute.

She shared with Stomp an account of what she has been experiencing.

Said the Stomper via email:

"I have been on the receiving end of verbal abuse and having strangers talking lewd to me everywhere I went.

"Recently I have been working as a temp staff in an office located in town.

"I have come to suspect that my direct supervisor may be having a wrong impression of me due to external influences.

"She seemed displeased with me even after I had become more familiar at my scope of work.

"It has then dawned upon me that the misunderstanding could have arose from the way my mother is used to calling me.

"My mother is a simple Teochew woman with depression for many years.

"At times she will scream into the air and her ears are not functioning well anymore.

"Our family is able to leave her at home while we go to work because she can still take care of herself like buying food and doing simple household chores.

"Since young, she had been calling me “Bebi-Ji” as I am the first grandchild in her family.

“Bebi” to her means Baby and “Ji” perhaps to mean a girl.

"Now more than 20 years later she would still address me as “Bebi-Ji” as a grown up adult.

"To folks who may not be familiar with our family, it may seem like she is calling me a prostitute as “ji” in Mandarin can also mean prostitute.

"These recent years we often read about stories of how local Singaporeans are losing their jobs due to various reasons on the internet.

"Hence when my mother still addresses me as “Bebi-Ji” it can lead to people thinking that there are no other jobs left for this Singaporean and that I have to resort to earning a living through prostitution.

"Lately, my mother, now a 60 years old granny, would stand outside our HDB unit corridor scolding “lau-huay ji” meaning 'bleeding chicken', making the situation even more misleading.

"As I tend to get water retention during the day and have obvious PMS syndromes it may seems to her that she is looking at two different person living inside her house. I also suspect that she could have assumed that I have a bloated tummy because I am fooling around at home with my own brother.

"We share the same bedroom but sleeping on different bed.

"She has the habit of peeking into our room to check on us while we close the door to block out her screams.

"While she has the habit of shouting all sorts of vulgar words and complaining about many things out in the open loudly during the day as well as at night.

"We are unable to stop her from screaming in the house as she may end up accusing us of abusing her.

"She does not realise that her screaming is affecting others who are our newer neighbours whom may be thinking that my mother is scolding them.

"I would like to thank the people that has helped our family explain to others that my mum is not of sound mind and not all her screaming can be taken as a true reflection of what is happening.

"As I am unable to voice out on my own initially as it would seem like I am bad mouthing my own mother.

"Through this clarification I would like to appeal to the public to stop spreading untrue rumours that I am a prostitute.

"I have been harassed by people who come to my current office looking for sexy women and some simply do not want to listen to my explanations.

"This has created a lot of tension and misunderstanding between me and my colleagues.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to show my appreciation to my current bosses for helping to create a safe environment for staff to work in and having the discernment in handling this unpleasant situation by explaining to others on my behalf as well.

"Thank you for reading my story and good wishes to all."