Language rights advocates, including Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politicians, yesterday called for the establishment of a dedicated body to revive Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), and urged the government to formulate a complete set of policies to promote the language.
Taiwan is facing a serious crisis, as “the loss of habitat for languages” has led to younger people having fewer opportunities to hear and speak their mother tongue, the Taigi Policy Promotion Alliance told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
The group said the central government should establish a new body, which it called the “Hoklo Revitalization Council,” similar to the government councils dedicated to rejuvenating Hakka and indigenous languages.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
“Hoklo was in the past the main medium of communication between ethnic groups in Taiwan. However, the use of Hoklo and the opportunities to speak it have dwindled so much that many are concerned that it would disappear,” alliance representative Hsu Hui-ying (許慧盈) said.
Koo Kwang-ming Foundation executive director Yang Zong-li (楊宗澧) said it was the result of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government’s suppression of all aspects of Taiwanese culture during the Martial Law era, and its push to make Mandarin Chinese the dominant language, while sidelining other languages such as Hoklo, Hakka and indigenous languages.
“People whose mother tongue is Hoklo should encourage its use in society and everyday life. However, nowadays, Mandarin prevails in the workplace, professional settings, the media and the public sector,” he said.
“Take as an example the recent discovery of African swine fever at a Taichung farm. Most veterinarians received their training in Mandarin, which is what they use at work, but most hog farmers speak Hoklo. This language gap creates problems in communication,” Yang said.
“We urgently need to revitalize Hoklo,” because it is the mother tongue of the majority of people in Taiwan, DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said. “It is also the soul of Taiwanese culture, the repository of Taiwanese history and our collective memory.”
While a recent government survey showed that Hoklo speakers are still the majority, the use of Hoklo in daily life has rapidly declined, he said.
Among people aged 65 or older, more than 70 percent can speak Hoklo, but that percentage is only 7.4 percent among young people, he said.
“There exists a generation gap ... but the government has been slow in responding to this situation,” he added.
“Instead of chanting slogans, the government must set up a Hoklo revitialization council because we need a comprehensive policy reform, with all ministries collaborating from top to bottom to promote Hoklo,” he said.
“Hoklo is now classified as an endangered language according to the standards of UNESCO,” Lin said. “I have repeatedly urged the government to take action to stop the decline of Taiwan’s mother tongue, to set up a dedicated body and build a Hoklo culture park to promote the language’s use in our daily lives and in society.”
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS