A draft amendment to the Hakka Basic Act (客家基本法) that makes Hakka a national language has been approved, with a language center and a media foundation to be established to promote its use, the Cabinet said yesterday.
The bill grants official status to Hakka and recognizes it as a national language, the Hakka Affairs Council said.
The use of the Hakka language in everyday situations is to be encouraged in areas where one-third of the population uses it as a mother tongue, the amendment says.
Photo: CNA
The nation is losing its Hakka heritage, as in recognized Hakka communities only 14 percent of residents aged between 20 and 29 can speak the language, while for those younger than 10 years old, that figure falls to only 7 percent, Hakka Affairs Council Minister Lee Yung-te (李永得) said.
“I hope people can accept and familiarize themselves with Hakka, and respect people’s right to use their native language — only then can Taiwan become a nation with cultural pluralism,” Lee said, citing an incident in which an prison inmate was prohibited from speaking Hakka during a family visit.
To encourage Hakka education, Hakka-language proficiency is to be included in the criteria of promotion eligibility for civil servants and school teachers in key Hakka communities, Lee said.
The government should also help implement the use of Hakka as a teaching language in schools and kindergartens to ensure citizens’ rights to instruction in their native language, the amendment says.
The amendment stipulates that the central government should help establish a Hakka language research center and a Hakka public communication foundation to promote Hakka culture.
The public communication foundation is to be responsible for managing Hakka TV, Hakka Radio, once it is launched, and Hakka publications, Lee said.
Hakka Radio is to be managed by the council during its initial stage, but to prevent government intervention in the media the foundation — an independent public organization — is to take over its management, Lee said.
In key Hakka communities, government agencies are to be required to provide services in Hakka and Hakka-language courses would be offered in schools as required rather than elective courses.
Only Kaohsiung and Hualien award bonus points to students with a Hakka-language proficiency in school entrance exams, Lee said, adding that other local governments would be encouraged to do the same.
The government should help establish cross-municipality Hakka culture organizations to promote the development of the Hakka language and the cultural rights of recognized Hakka communities should be protected, the amendment says.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is set to issue sea and land warnings for Tropical Storm Krathon as projections showed that the tropical storm could strengthen into a typhoon as it approaches Taiwan proper, the CWA said yesterday. The sea warning is scheduled to take effect this morning and the land warning this evening, it said. The storm formed yesterday morning and in the evening reached a point 620 nautical miles (1,148km) southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, moving west-southwest at 4 kph as it strengthened, the CWA said. Its radius measured between 220km and 250km, it added. Krathon is projected
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