Maybe it would have gone something like this: Skeptical Hoklo southerner triumphantly dismisses a number of the Hakka lady’s arguments, only for the Mainlander character to descend from the sky on Sun Wu-kung’s (孫悟空) zippy little cloud and overwhelm him with a tale of history, fate, social class, educational worth, proper pronunciation and knowing your place in the scheme of things.
Meanwhile, the Aboriginal guy, wearing a headdress and with a machete by his side, breaks into a dance, swigs a mouthful of xiaomijiu (小米酒, millet wine), exclaims “Ho-hai-yen-hai-ya” and nods along with whatever the Mainlander says. When the lecture’s over, the Mainlander returns to his Taipei condo on his Monkey cloud, but not before slipping the Aborigine a couple of thousand NT dollars for services rendered.
So the Hoklo guy sits chastened, pulls out some betel nut, munches quietly, then takes his comb from his shirt pocket and tidies up his afro as the Hakka babe grins from ear to ear.
Wait a minute ... doesn’t Chen Chu have an afro?
No wonder the ministry pulled the cartoon.
Got something to tell Johnny? Get it off your chest: Write to dearjohnny@taipeitimes.com, but put “Dear Johnny” in the subject line or he’ll mark your bouquets and brickbats as spam.
RSS