My Nickname Is Cicak

Some people’s nicknames are a shortened version of their real name, so mine could be Ash. But I have a unique nickname (some of you may have unique nicknames too). My nickname is Cicak (CHEE-chawk). Cicak is the national language word for gecko. Cicaks are usually tan and white, and they eat insects including mosquitoes. Since there are malaria parasites in the mosquitoes here, it is always nice to have cicaks around to eat them.

There is even a Cicak song that my mom sang to me when I was little. One thing that is cool about the Cicak is that its tail can detach. It does that for self-defense. If a predator tries to attack it, the cicak can detach its tail so that the predator will go after the wiggly tail and not eat the cicak’s body. Geckos also make a really distinct noise, and compared to their small body, it is quite impressive how loud they can get.

The story behind my getting the nickname Cicak is interesting. I was born in Asia Pacific, and there are tons of geckos around. When I was born, my dad thought that I was cute and small like the geckos, so he nicknamed me Cicak. And to this day he calls me Cicak, but I like it.