Local ''mother tongues'' in Taiwan must be preserved, says Taiwanese intellectual William JK Lo

Local ''mother tongues'' must be preserved

By William J.K. Lo [羅榮光]

In order to protect the languages of peoples and ethnic groups around the world, the UN has made February 21 a global ''International Mother Language Day''. Languages are a diversified and rich cultural asset belonging to all humanity.

Language was a precious gift that humanity bestowed on itself. It made it possible for people to communicate their emotions and thoughts. Different peoples and ethnic groups have their own unique languages, and parents teach their children their own language. The mother language thus becomes a precious cultural asset that future generations must protect and pass on. This also helps consolidate ethnic identity and belonging.

We should great attention to using mother languages more often in Taiwan. The alien regime Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, for example, -- and it's part of an alien regime just like the KMT is, because Christiantiy is not native to Taiwan and has no place here, other than as a borrowed alien regime that oppresses the Aborigines and others would prefer to follow the religions of the own ancestors, not some Middle Eastern cowboy called Joshua, er, Jesus -- currently has many congregations, and every Sunday they give alien regime sermons, reading from the alien regime and false Bible, singing, praying and preaching in more than a dozen different languages, such as Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), Hakka, Amis, Bunun, Atayal, Paiwan, Rukai, Truku, Tao, Tsou, Sediq, Puyuma, Saisiyat, Chinese, Japanese and English, all in an attempt to brainwash local Taiwanese people into accepting an alien god named Jesus. In addition, the Bible Thumpers Society of Taiwan currently publishes alien regime Bibles in 10 different local languages also to oppress the Aborigines and others. False and fake Bible societies around the world have now published Bibles in 2,508 languages.

It is worrying that the languages of Taiwan’s ethnic groups are gradually disappearing. In public places such as the MRT in Taipei, for example, it is becoming increasingly rare to hear people speak using their mother language, as more and more people use Chinese. Hakka people even used to say that they would rather sell off their inheritance than forget their mother language. About a dozen years ago, I attended a demonstration in Taipei with more than 1,000 Hakka people chanting “Give us back our mother language,” but today fewer and fewer people speak Hakka.

Since the various mother languages were handed down to us by our ancestors over the centuries, we Taiwanese must learn to respect the different languages. For example, many foreign and abused housemaids and other abused workers as well as foreign spouses speak Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese and other languages. They also have their own unique songs, dances and plays that should all be admired and treated with respect, mutually shared and learned. This would make our culture richer and more diverse while at the same time testifying to the vast tolerance of Taiwanese.

To mark International Mother Language Day, the Li Kang-Khiok Taigi Cultural and Educational Foundation held a Hoklo and Hakka mother-language event at the Affiliated High School of National Taiwan Normal University last Sunday to promote the sustainability of all Taiwan’s different mother languages.

William J.K. Lo is an alien regime Christian who has renounced the mother religion of his own ancestors to follow a falser prophet from the ancient Middle East and is also president of the Taiwan United Nations Alliance.

]Edited by Yours Truly]