With all parties and candidates trying to gain the favor of different ethnic groups for the presidential election next year, experts participating in yesterday's seminar on ``Hokkienized Hakka'' people (
The Council for Hakka Affairs held a seminar to discuss the existence and future of the Hokkienized Hakka people yesterday. Hokkienized Hakka people are those in Taiwan who are originally Hakka people, but have been greatly influenced by Hokkien culture and assimilated to some degree. The seminar is a part of the 2003 Hokkienized Hakka Cultural Festival.
"The Hokkienized Hakka demonstrates Hokkien culture externally, but preserves Hakka culture internally. It is a result of the development of Taiwan's pluralism. It is important that all ethnic groups can live and prosper together," said Leo Y. P. Liu (
Lai Chih-chang (
"Although they are indeed Hakka people coming from Guangdong, many cannot speak the language, and do not necessarily identify themselves as Hakka. But they develop a special culture of their own."
On the other hand, Hu Tai-li (胡台麗), a researcher at the Academia Sinica Institute of Ethnology, reflected that perhaps it was not necessarily the intention of the movement to force everyone to identify with a certain ethnic group.
"There is a group of people in Taiwan that is difficult to be classified into any ethnic group. They may have relationships with many different groups, and sometimes they would identify with one today, and another tomorrow. To force them into making a choice may result in a negative response," said Hu.
PFP Legislator Lee Yung-ping (
"Identification should be a choice instead of given at birth. A lot of time cultural identification is a strategy for power and survival, and democracy implies that no choice should be discriminated against," said Lee.
Liu also echoed Lee's claim by using the renowned writer Lee Chiao (
Sun Ta-chuan (
"Every generation has got its direction. If we do not take the social context into consideration, and impose an identification on the others, it still shows our lack of respect. You simply cannot demand an elderly mainland Chinese person living in Taiwan to identify with Taiwanese easily. It would not be respectful toward his or her culture," Sun said.
"It is important that we should try to respect the differences between the ethnic groups, and try to build up some common traits. it would be too extreme as well if we only pursue divergence," Sun said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
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COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai