President Chen Shui-bian's (
Following the controversial proposal to make Hokkien, Hakka and Aboriginal languages official languages, a TSU lawmaker echoed Chen's recommendation yesterday and said the party planned to amend its original plan by adding English to the list.
Chen mentioned the idea of adding English when visiting a chat room on the ETtoday Web site. He asked the public to give serious thought to the possibility of making English the second official language, which he thought has helped Hong Kong and Singapore gain a competitive edge.
Chen Chien-ming (
But he stressed that the priority is to work toward transliterating several dialects, including Hokkien, Hakka and Aboriginal languages, which he thinks is a crucial condition for these languages to become official ones.
Giving details of the proposal, TSU caucus whip Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) told the Taipei Times of what he called a "two-stage official language plan." The first stage would be simultaneously listing Hokkien, Hakka and Aboriginal languages as official languages. After a trial period, the second stage, according to Lo, would be to examine the maturity of the transliterated languages and then to decide which one of them could be formally designated as the second official language.
Contrary to the support from the TSU, the president's idea did not draw immediate comment from DPP lawmakers.
Wang Tuoh (王拓), chief executive of the DPP legislative caucus, said that, "I have no comment on the issue." He implied that the party has many other "important" issues to deal with, and as for making English the second official language, "We can comment on that after it becomes a formal policy."
After the president raised the issue, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said on Sunday that "It is not only unnecessary but also impossible to make English the second official language in Taiwan right now."
Ma pointed out that the connotation of "official language" means that all official documents should be translated into that language. "Taking a look at our current English-language education and officials' English proficiency, it would be very hard for us to make that happen right now" Ma said.
Minister of Education Huang Jung-tsuen (黃榮村) also said on Sunday that making English the second official language "is a serious issue and it needs more discussion."
Huang stressed that the issue requires careful consideration.
"Before deciding which language should be the official language, we should consider the language's function, our own mother tongues, and the degree to which Taiwan gets involved in the international organizations," he said.
However, Huang added that, "It will generate a lot of controversy if we make English the second official language."
Although English is not the current official language, he noted that "English is the language which can connect Taiwan to the world, and it is necessary to learn it well."
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