Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, masks have become an all-too-familiar sight across the nation. On Dec. 28, 1988, thousands of Hakka marched through Taipei carrying a picture of Republic of China founder Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) adorned with a mask, in a protest called “Restore My Mother Tongue,” satirically pointing out that the government would deny even the Father of the Nation the right to speak his mother tongue.
Today, 32 years later, the nation has a Hakka Affairs Council and Hakka TV. Hakka is one of the official languages and there are three national universities that have a college offering Hakka studies — National Central University, National Chiao Tung University and National United University.
On Dec. 28 last year, the council led a group of Hakka advocates in installing a plaque where the magazine Hakka Affairs Monthly was established in October 1987, marking the location where the nation’s Hakka movement began.
Hakka awareness is on the rise, with some saying it started with a group of young Hakka who founded Hakka Affairs Monthly, giving voice to the community and unifying Hakka associations, labor groups and farmers’ associations across the nation to join the “Restore My Mother Tongue” demonstration that attracted the government’s attention.
Some also say the Taiwan Hakka Association for Public Affairs, established in 1990 by writer Chung Chao-cheng (鍾肇政), a doyen of Taiwan’s “nativist literature movement,” contributed to the awakening of the Hakka spirit. The New Hakka Election Campaign, established in 1993, took a step further by getting involved in political campaigning and increasing the visibility of the community.
However, the key to increasing Hakka’s status is the role they play in presidential elections.
A study of the voting behavior of the nation’s four major ethnic groups shows that Hoklo Taiwanese, who account for 70 percent of the population, tend to be “pro-green,” while those in north-central Taiwan are described as “light green,” and those in southern Taiwan “deep green,” while Mainlanders and Aborigines are “deep blue.”
As for the Hakka, those residing in the north are “pro-blue,” while those in the south tend to be “pro-green.” However, the Hakka population in southern Taiwan — mainly in the Liouduei area (which includes parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung) — is rather small, giving the impression that Hakka tend to be blue.
In the 2000 presidential election, Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) won by taking advantage of the division in the pan-blue camp, which had two presidential candidates — then-vice president Lien Chan (連戰) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and James Soong (宋楚瑜), who ran as an independent.
During Chen’s administration, the Hakka Affairs Council and Hakka TV were established, and a Hakka college was set up in a national university. Consequently, when he sought re-election in 2004, running against a joint ticket of Lien and Soong, who had become the People First Party chairman, Chen still won, albeit by a narrow margin.
During that presidential election, data showed that about 60 percent of Hakka voted blue, while 40 percent went green, compared with a blue-green split of 70-30 in the previous presidential election. The pro-green Hakka population had increased during Chen’s administration.
During his campaign for the 2008 presidential election, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) visited Ma Village (馬家庄) in Miaoli County’s Tongsiao Township (通霄) ostensibly to pay respect to his ancestors, but mainly to court the Hakka vote.
In 2012, he was re-elected with a margin of nearly 800,000 votes, mainly from the Hakka community. His main opponent, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is Hakka, failed to win the 600,000 votes of the Hakka community, which cost her the election. That led to Tsai’s efforts to cultivate the Hakka community, which gave way to a policy of promoting Hakka culture after she won the presidential election in 2016.
Nowadays, Hakka language and culture are valued by governments at all levels, a testament to the hard work of notable Hakka figures. However, to really improve the Hakka’s status, there should be more Hakka occupying important roles in politics and economics.
Aside from playing a strategic role in the presidential election with their vote, Hakka must pro-actively seek opportunities to take part in the political system to give voice to the community.
Ho Lai-mei is a Miaoli-based writer of culture and history.
Translated by Lin Lee-kai
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