Labeling her a “pseudo Hakka” for her inability to speak Hakka fluently is unacceptable, since language proficiency should never be judged as a “cardinal sin,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
She said the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) “crude language policies” of the past was the reason her Hakka was not more fluent.
Tsai was responding to comments by former KMT chairman Wu Po-hsiung (吳伯雄) — a Hakka — who told a rally in support of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Sunday that Tsai was a “pseudo Hakka” because she could not speak Hakka and had not spoken it in more than 50 years.
“I admit my Hakka is not good enough, but I am proud of my Hakka ancestry and appreciate that Hakka people across the nation have accepted me with open arms as one of them,” Tsai said.
However, telling people not to support her because she is a fake Hakka or because of her limited Hakka-language ability was unacceptable, she said.
“I am not the only Hakka who can’t speak fluent Hakka. Many people can’t,” Tsai said.
“And there are many Hoklo people are not able to speak fluent Hoklo [also known as Taiwanese] as well,” she added.
The KMT’s language policies, which only promoted Mandarin during the Martial Law era and suppressed the development of other languages, such as Hakka, Hoklo and Aboriginal languages, are the reason why the children of these ethnic groups did not learn or speak their mother tongue, she said.
“Not only has the KMT failed to apologize for its wrong policies, it is now playing the race card to cover the failure of its policies,” Tsai said. “It is immoral to resort to the tactic of inciting ethnic divisions.”
Ma said being a “Mainlander” was his “cardinal sin” when his proposal to sign a peace accord with China was received negatively and was described as a plan to “sell out Taiwan,” Tsai said.
“So has KMT decided to resort to a strategy of ethnic division to boost its presidential campaign?” she said.
Tsai pledged to learn Hakka and promised to create a fair environment for all ethnic groups, cultures and languages if she was elected president in January, adding that her respect for the Hakka spirit and culture is what counts.
“And nobody should have to have a cardinal sin for his or her identity or the language he or she speaks,” she added.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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