Taipei, July 5 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian reached out to the island's five million Hakka citizens in his weekly televised broadcast Saturday, emphasizing the importance of giving due respect to the Hakka language.
Calling language a vital part of an ethnic group's identity, President Chen said it is a big boost to the dignity of a given ethnic group if its language is accepted and respected by the whole society.
Chen, who presided over the inauguration of the nation's first all-Hakka television channel July 1, said that language is a basic tool of communication as well as a means of understanding an ethnic group's history and culture.
An ethnic group will feel it is an integrated part of society if its language is accepted and respected by the whole society as a means of communication, Chen noted.
The president said that this is why he insisted when he served as Taipei mayor between 1994 and 1998 that announcements made on the Taipei Mass Rapid Transportation public address system should include the Hakka language.
He added that this was also the reason behind his decision to start the all-Hakka channel after he was elected president.
Claiming he is a descendant of the Hakka from Saoan in the southern mainland Chinese province of Fujian, Chen said his experience in learning the Hakka dialect for the inauguration of the all-Hakka channel has given him a rare glimpse into the rich Hakka culture.
Furthermore, he claimed credit for the formation of a Council for Hakka Affairs under the Executive Yuan and the setting up of a Hakka research institute at the National Central University in Chungli, Taoyuan County.
Contrasting his administration's respect for the Hakka dialect and other dialects used by the local people with that of Taiwan's previous governments, he said the former governments had discriminated against these dialects by forbidding their use in public, let alone in broadcasts.
The difference in treatment for Taiwan's various dialects underlines the leap forward made by his administration, Chen said.