Li'l Abner

Every time I enter a patient's room at the Mater Hospital, I always introduce myself politely by saying my name and the department which I belong to. More often than not the patients have fancied my name. One common question I usually encounter is where did my name come from.

It was actually my father's idea of christening me Abner. He got my name from a long running newspaper comic strip by Al Capp, Li'l Abner. Apparently while waiting for my mum to give birth that morning of July 14, 1967, he was reading a newspaper and saw the comic strip, ingenious isn't it? My name has biblical background as well, Abner was King Saul's cousin and Commander-in-Chief of his army.

Famous namesakes include; Abner Doubleday, Abner Dalrymple, Abner Powell, baseball players, Abner Haynes, a footballer and Abner Mikva, a former US politician.