Hakka god Yimin gets extra offerings of entertainment at religious festival

A Yimin memorial (義民祭典), a religious festival sponsored by Taipei City's Council of Hakka Affairs, moved into high gear yesterday with the staging of an "offering" ceremony.

Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭), chairwoman of the Cabinet's Council of Hakka Affairs, and Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), a Hakka and KMT vice chairman, presented the offerings to the Yimin god, an important religious figure to Hakkas.

In a bid to make the ceremony more dignified, offerings of entertainment and music were added to the more traditional Hakka religious offerings of flowers, fruit and alcohol, according to the festival's sponsor.

Complementing Ma and Yeh for their efforts in promoting Hakka culture at the local and national levels, Wu stressed that political affiliation plays no role when it comes to preserving Hakka culture.

Saying that Hakka culture has nearly become invisible in Taiwan's society, Yeh said to revitalize Hakka culture, she would work to make the Yimin memorial a religious event held nationwide.

"Aside from that," she added, "we also hope that through events like the Yimin memorial and other innovative measures, the public -- including the young Hakka generation -- will come to better understand Hakka culture."

Aside from the offering ceremony, an array of Hakka folk singing, dancing, opera, cuisine, art and crafts and other activities were featured at the religious festival in an effort to promote the visibility of Hakka culture.

In a bid to court the city's roughly 400,000 Hakka voters, DPP's Taipei mayoral candidate, Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), attended yesterday's activities, as did Ma, who attempted to deliver his speech in Hakka at yesterday's offering ceremony.