Advocates for the preservation and promotion of Taiwan’s native languages on Wednesday urged local governments to include Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese) for new terms and original place names in announcements on public transportation.
They raised the concern following a flip-flop by Kaohsiung Metro for its service announcement on the city’s newly completed Circular Light Rail system.
Li Kang-khioh Taiwanese Foundation director Tan Hong-hui (陳豐惠), together with members from the Tai-uan Tai-gi Loo Association, Taiwan Citizen Participation Association and Taiwan South Society held a news conference at the legislature in Taipei on Wednesday to mark the UN International Mother Language Day.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Criticizing top officials at the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) for insisting on using the Mandarin term qing gui (輕軌), meaning “light rail,” Tan said it should be called “khin-thih” (輕鐵), a Hoklo term that has already been in use in PTS Taigi (公視台語台), TTV Taigi Channel (台視台語台) and CTS Hoklo Taiwanese News (華視台語新聞) broadcasts.
It is important on International Mother Language Day that all government ministries and local governments abide by the nation’s laws and ensure the provisioning of broadcasts in Hoklo, or “Taigi” (台語), for new terms, announcing arrival stations and original place names, Tan said.
“We demand that all public transport systems, alongside Mandarin, must also have the correct pronunciation in Hoklo for station names and public service announcements,” including for the nation’s railways, mass rapid transit (MRT) systems, light rails, buses and the Taiwan High-Speed Rail, Tan said.
If there is no announcement in Hoklo, then it contravenes statutes in the Development of National Languages Act (國家語言發展法) and the Act of Broadcasting Language Equality Protection in Public Transport (大眾運輸工具播音語言平等保障法), Tan said.
After discussions with KRTC in recent days, it was agreed that KTRC would use “khin-thih” for the light rail’s broadcasts.
“We want to endorse this change, for KRTC officials to be aware of the importance of the right to mother tongue usage in Taiwan. We hope to have these rights in all of the nation’s public transport systems, so ethnic groups can hear their mother languages being used in public,” Taiwan Citizen Participation Association deputy director Hsu Hui-ying (許慧盈) said.
Tainan City Councilor Lee Chi-wei (李啟維) of the Democratic Progressive Party endorsed the efforts.
“City and county governments should set up pilot programs for teaching Taiwan’s native languages in schools. The diversity of Taiwan’s mother tongues are living expressions of our culture, environment, history and daily life. Students can improve through class teaching and speaking at home, and with people around the neighborhood,” Lee said.
Lee said he would ask the central government to establish a “national center for language research and development” in Tainan.
“The main repository of Taiwanese culture is in Tainan, but government leaders have concentrated most resources and funding in northern Taiwan, neglecting southern Taiwan,” Lee said.
“Most resources for culture and language development are still focused in northern Taiwan. For example, the public television system PTS and its Hoklo channel are based in Taipei, which runs contrary to balanced culture and language development between north and south.
The Tainan City Government must lobby for this center to be set up here,” Lee said.
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