What's His Name?

I was at lunch with a bunch of chatting girls. Their topics switched rapidly from abnormally cool weather to, naturelly, gossips.

Nancy: "So Hong in my lab said..."
Farhana: "Hong? Isn't his name Kong?"
Veronika: "Oh, yeah. I am always confused. It seems all the Chinese call him Kong, but he lets us call him Hong."

They paused their discussion, and all turned their heads to me.

I decided to grasp this rare opportunity to give them a Chinese lesson. So I cleared my throat and lectured:

"Kong speaks Cantonese, OK? And in Cantonese, his name is Hong. But we speak Mandarin. And in Mandarin, his name is Kong."

Veronika, still confused, asked:"But what should we call him then?"

Me:"Hong Kong."