By Tshua Siu-Ui 蔡守崴
On Oct. 13, Vice President William Lai (賴清德) presented his policy blueprint for the development of Taiwanese culture at the fifth National Project of Hope news conference.
In the presentation, Lai, the Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential candidate, introduced two promises and eight proposals for the preservation of cultural properties such as traditional drama theaters, art museums and other assets.
As a young Taiwanese Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) speaker worried about the extinction the nation’s mother tongues are facing, I was particularly captivated by Lai’s speech when he expressed concern about the endangered state of local languages.
In his second proposition, he announced his three main plans regarding the issue, and highlighted the importance of improving resources for language acquisition and fostering language equality.
Lai’s first plan of the proposal is to set up a “National Language Research and Development Center” (NLRDC), which would be responsible for the revival of Taiwan’s mother languages. He said that although the enactment of the Development of National Languages Act (國家語言發展法) in 2019 had already ensured the national status of all local languages, the government should continue to make more constructive plans to keep these languages alive and thriving.
While this plan might seem ideal, it would require a substantial amount of money and cooperation among several departments. In April, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said that the Executive Yuan plans to allocate NT$32.1 billion (US$994.45 million) to create national language-friendly environments over the next five years, and that it would also ask the Ministry of Culture to negotiate with the Legislative Yuan and other ministries to establish the NLRDC.
It is crucial that the government seek feasible solutions and use this budget wisely, so that the goal of language revitalization can be attained.
The second plan involves enhancing the learning resources from national languages. This policy aims to guarantee students’ right to choose any national language they wish to learn, including Taiwan Sign Language.
From a student’s perspective, I would agree that the government has made many positive reforms in mother tongue education, especially in high schools.
Nevertheless, problems such as teacher shortages and a lack of language surroundings continues to hinder the process of language revitalization. Unless the right of people to use their mother tongue in public spaces is fully protected, efforts to save endangered languages could be futile.
Fortunately, Lai’s third plan intends to do exactly that. He said that as Taiwanese Hoklo, Hakka and all indigenous languages have already been declared national languages, public institutions should provide services in these languages to promote language equality. He also encouraged everyone in the cultural industry to compose music or perform in their mother tongues to enable the public to gain a sense of pride in their cultural identities.
In February last year, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) promised to make all national languages more commonly spoken among families and local communities.
However, there has been little noticeable increase in the use of these languages; hence, the next government absolutely must invest more resources to reverse the decline of the languages’ speaking populations.
All major political parties unanimously agree that local languages need saving.
The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), frequently speaks Hoklo in his campaigns, and Taiwan People’s Party Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that “Hoklo is an important part of our culture” when he was the mayor of Taipei.
Cultural preservation should transcend different political stances. Therefore, I sincerely hope that all candidates can eventually come up with innovative strategies to effectively conserve and bring vitality to Taiwan’s diverse cultural heritage.
Tshua Siu-Ui is a Taiwanese student studying international relations and politics in Norwich, England.
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