City officials said yesterday that Taipei is soon to establish Taiwan's first official Hakka governmental organization, providing that the draft measures are passed by the city council. The draft has already been approved by the city government in a meeting on April 11.
Addressing a press conference yesterday in less-than-perfect Hakka, Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) -- who said he himself was of Hakka decent -- said the establishment of the Hakka Affairs Committee was important to the city's continuing efforts to preserve Hakka heritage.
"This is a small step for the city government, but it's a big step for the Hakka people," Ma said. "We're not trying to differentiate Hakka culture from other ethnic cultures, but rather to restore an old culture and instill a new meaning into it."
Ma said that he hoped other cities would follow suit and set up their own Hakka committees.
"Our goal is to blend together different ethnic groups, that is to have one ethnic group respect, tolerate and appreciate another's different culture," he said.
The materialization of the organization is not only political, Ma said, it's rather more personal.
"I'm a Hakka descendent, but I don't speak the language. If you know one more language, you open one more window for yourself," he said.
Preparatory committee representative Chen Shih-shan (
"The gradual vanishing of the Hakka language is as serious as the devastating earthquake which struck the island on Sept. 21 last year. If we don't try to save it now, I'm afraid it might be too late," he said.
The committee will be staffed with 23 people and consist of two major departments -- one dealing with the preservation and promotion of Hakka culture and language, the other in charge of the planning and administration of Hakka-related matters.
Unlike the Cabinet-level Aboriginal Affairs Commission, members of the Hakka committee do not necessarily have to be Hakka natives. In addition one-third of its seats have been set aside for female members.
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