Whenever politicians of Chinese descent start switching tongue and speaking Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) in speeches, it means that campaign season has arrived.
Sure enough, at the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) national congress on July 19, the public was treated to presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) delivering part of her speech in Hoklo as she portrayed herself as having humble origins.
KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who on Sunday won the party primary for a legislative seat in Keelung in next year’s election, has also recorded telephone greetings in Hoklo as he steps up his campaign to woo Keelung residents.
Many people were reminded that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), during his presidential run, also proclaimed his devotion to Taiwan, in Hoklo, at many campaign stops.
By all means, given that Hoklo is the mother tongue of most Taiwanese, it is welcome to hear politicians adopting Hoklo in their efforts to bridge the gap with the majority of the public and show their emotional attachment to the land.
However, it would be utterly despicable if some of them secretly harbored ignorance and disrespect, if not contempt, for Hoklo, and only resorted to speaking the language when campaign season comes around as a superficial act to curry favor with voters.
A number of people have their doubts as they are reminded that during Ma’s administration, the Ministry of Education has said that Hoklo should be referred to as the “Minnan language,” not “Taiwanese.”
Many also recall how Hung, during her stint as a KMT lawmaker, initiated a motion in 2009 to delete a NT$40 million (US$1.27 million) budget submitted by the ministry to hold Hoklo proficiency accreditation tests.
The truth is that the majority of the public understands Mandarin just fine, and that if politicians of Chinese descent are sincere in their service to the people and attachment to Taiwan, they ought not to fear that their profession of love for this country would be regarded any less just because they cannot speak Hoklo.
A person who speaks Hoklo does not necessarily identify with Taiwan more, just as a Chinese descendant who does not speak Hoklo would not necessarily identify with China more.
Language is a means of communication. Hoklo should not be used by members of the public as a label to automatically assume whether one identifies with Taiwan or not, let alone by sneaky politicians employing it as a campaign tool to deceive voters and buy votes.
It does not matter if a person speaks Mandarin, Hoklo, Hakka or another Aboriginal language, so long as that person manifests their love for Taiwan through good deeds and upholds the belief that Taiawn is an independent and sovereign nation; they will be embraced by the public as Taiwanese.
As such, politicians of all parties are advised to drop the phony playacting, for their profession of love for this country would count for little if they only speak in Hoklo when election time comes around.
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