The roots of Mandarin
If you teach or use the Chinese language in Taiwan, it is known as Guoyu, not Mandarin. People have not heard of Mandarin and school teachers do not care.
The term Mandarin has been obsolete for 105 years.
Mandarin was originally an English term for a high-level Chinese official, whose language was thought of as the “official language” of China. Why only in China?
Since the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) fell, mandarins have become extinct.
Mandarin as a term for the language is a fiction and it is an affront to the nation.
A survey revealed that many universities in Taiwan ignorantly stipulate Mandarin as their medium of instruction.
I urge your newspaper to publicize this fact to discourage the shameful advertising of Mandarin.
Jow Yuzo
Los Angeles
MRT policing problems
By now, many of us have seen the video of a Taiwanese man surnamed Liao verbally assaulting Raymond Hall, a Briton, and his Taiwanese girlfriend who were traveling on the Taipei MRT metropolitan railway system.
Liao’s actions are completely wrong and uncivilized. Liao must make a public apology. He must say that his actions are wrong. He must resolve not to do it again. He must ask for forgiveness.
Liao must also be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for any and all laws he has broken.
The MRT security videos should not be deleted after only one week. They must be kept for a longer period of time.
The MRT needs its own police department. This is common practice in the US where there are jurisdictions within other jurisdictions. For example, Central Park is in New York City, but Central Park has its own police department.
A better example are the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police. BART is the metro that goes through many cities in northern California. BART has its own police department.
This story was the front-page lead of Friday’s Taipei Times. It was not on the front page of the China Post.
The China Post is controlled by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). And like the KMT, it is disconnected from Taiwan.
Andres Chang
Taipei
Nation’s search for unity
Following the terror attacks in Paris, at the French national soccer stadium the Stade de France — where French President Francois Hollande was watching a soccer match between France and Germany — when the crowd heard about the attacks, many people in the stadium stood up and started singing the national anthem, La Marseillaise.
It is very touching. If a similar situation were to happen in Taiwan, would the people stand and sing 三民主義 [the Three Principles of the People]?
It would never happen.
To unify all the different ethnic groups of the nation, we could start by choosing a national anthem and a flag that everybody respects.
Pierre Loisel
New Taipei City
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