Taipei, Oct. 26 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian, who can claim credit for helping raise the status of Taiwan's minorities, notably the Hakka people, on Sunday opened the Hakka Cultural Festival in Meilung, Kaohsiung County.
Although the Hakka people are the second largest ethnic group in Taiwan, they were largely ignored by past governments. Chen's administration established the Cabinet-level Council for Hakka Affairs and then set up the All-Hakka TV Channel in July this year.
In order to revive the Hakka dialect and Hakka culture, Chen said, his administration is compiling a textbook on the Hakka dialect and is training Hakka dialect teachers.
The Hakka Cultural Festival, which will run through Nov. 16, is another example of the emphasis his administration attaches to the Hakka people, Chen said, pledging to create a diversified society where the various ethnic groups are on an equal footing and receive their due respect. "I am a Hakka person too and need your support, " Chen said in not so fluent Hakka, to the great applause of his audience.