Selective beliefs
Chiou Chwei-liang's (
Somehow these immigrants never think there is anything wrong with the notion that people somehow only need to be fed, not to think or to feel, like a domesticated animal or a house plant.
Yet these are the very people who abandoned what they tout as the "great nation of China" and emigrated to a "modern" nation such as Canada. It is not hard for them to accept modern values; the problem is they only accept it for themselves, not for the Chinese still in China.
They think that what's good for themselves is not good for other Chinese, or worse, should be taken away from other Chinese. And since they consider Taiwan part of China, these values should be taken away from Taiwanese too.
Such selective learning -- a monstrous mix of ignorance and grandeur, comes from selective teaching of those in power, the emperors of old and communist dictators of late, who must keep the masses ignorant lest their exclusive power should be challenged.
Canada, I suppose, just as the US, asks its immigrants to swear allegiance to its Constitution, which represents these values. Those countries would do well to monitor these immigrants, for their contempt and insincere pledges, lest one day they should think about practice their true belief in communism and imperialism in their adopted country.
But do not despair or think that the entire 1.3 billion population of China believes these values too. Believe me, if given the chance, all 1.3 billion would emigrate.
Since this is impossible, what's the next best thing? Democratize China!
Chen Ming-chung
Chicago
Consistency would be nice
I have noticed that the Taipei Times uses "Hokkien," "Hoklo" and "Minnan" to refer to the same language, which is used by about 70 percent of the people in Taiwan.
This language is referred as "Taiwanese" in the 2003 Taiwan Yearbook issued by the Government Information Office.
In my opinion, these four names are all inappropriate.
The correct name for this language in Taiwan is "Holo" (both o's pronounced as German umlaut "oe"). This name has been used since the ancient time and is most commonly used today.
"Hokkien" also includes, for example, Fuzhou language that is completely different from Holo.
"Hoklo" and "Minnan" (or "Binlam") are rarely referred to by the people who speak Holo.
"Taiwanese" should include Holo, Hakka and Aboriginal languages although Holo is the most common Taiwanese. Since languages are a hot topic recently, please use "Holo" (or "Hoeloe") for this common Taiwanese.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
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