Introducing Mia Ariana

Since names last a life time, it's not easy for me and wifey to find the right name, one that is not too common and not too strange or flashy to name our new child with. We wanted a name that is short and sweet, not too long, easy to pronounce, not really old school and most importantly has a good meaning behind it.
To tell you the truth, I've quietly decided on the initial Mia ever since Linda's early stages of pregnancy. Nevertheless we still need to find the second name for our baby girl. We deliberated over a dozen names (like Fazura, Aneesa, Alisha, Nurul Syuhada Nurul Ain among others) over the last 9 months and it was only last night that we finally agreed on her present and final name.

The name Ariana crossed our minds several times but we didn't really think about adopting it because we didn't find any meaning of that name in Arabic at first. Then I did a little research online, Googled a few websites and found out the name Ariana actually means lively, bubbly or merry in Arabic. Ariana also comes from the word Aryan which means noble in Persian. Arian also happens to be the ancient name for the Islamic Repupblic of Iran.

In other languages, Ariana means the very holy one in Greek plus Ariana is an Italianate form of the name Ariadne. Apart from that, Ariana Afghan Airlines is the national airline company of Afghanistan. There are also several Afghan television channels named Ariana. Finally, Ariana is a variant of Aryan, the name given to the Indo-European people, of which Afghanistan is a part. And as for Mia, let's just say that that's part of our globalization effort :)

So I went to the JPN counter in Serdang this morning to register Mia Ariana's name. Previously, this place is always crowded in the morning with scores of people queuing outside even before the office is open. Today however, this office is almost deserted with only a handful of people waiting in line when I got there. For future fathers out there, here's what you need to bring for your kid's registration:

1.Mother's Maternity Health Record card (Kad Rekod Kesihatan Ibu) + photocopy
The card that you bring for that monthly check up.

2. Birth Registration Form JPN.LM01 (Borang Daftar Kelahiran)
This will be issued by the hospital/clinic of birth.

3. Birth Confirmation Form (Borang Pengesahan Kelahiran)
This one will also be given by the hospital.

4. Identity cards of both mother and father + photocopy
Make sure you bring the mother's IC. The mother needs no be present at the registration office.

5. Marriage Certificate Booklet (Buku Nikah) + photocopy (for Muslim parents only).
Again, bring the original.

Although the hospital was kind enough to brief me on this matters beforehand, they forgot to tell me that I need to photocopy the mother's maternity health record. Lucky for me there's plenty of photocopy centers in Serdang. It took me half an hour to finish the entire registration process this morning despite the fact that there were only 2 fricking people waiting before me.

Last but not least, I'm proud to say that I've achieved one of the 12 things to do before I die thingy he he! So one, down 11 to go.