Re: `Kheks' for Hakka's in Malaysia

["Dixie" <Dixie@singnet.com.sg>]

> Maybe the usage of the term `khek' which Dixie intepretated as `Rough
> Hakka' which were showered on us is a term to express our durability in
> the hostile enviroment in those time i.e. before the 1950's as a mark of
> respect for our Hakka's people .

> I believed that whatever termed that are used to call us Hakka's are
> irrevelent except that we are proud to be one in blood and soul and
> respected by the Local Population is what that matters !

Thanks for the information about 'Khek' being used in Malaysia. I never
knew about this.
However, I have never heard of Khek being used in Kuala Lumpur where there
are many Hakkas.
Correct me if I am wrong.

I remembered that I was replying to Yoon-Ngan's earlier entry about this.
I myself did not felt offended by the term.

In Singapore, the authorities had probably made some mistake many decades
ago.
The Hakkas have always been referred to as Hakkas. However, in the old
Identity cards 
carried by Singaporeans, the dialect group was referred to as Khek (the
pronunciation used by Hokkiens
and Teochews, the top 2 major dialect groups in Singapore).
Several years ago, the dialect group column has been omitted from the new
plastic Identity Cards.
(One reason is probably to make the Chinese more united and don't let them
differentiate from each
other based on dialect groups. And this has been very successful. Most
Chinese in Singapore now 
speak Mandarin besides English.)

As you may have already know, the founding prime minister in Singapore, Lee
Kuan Yew, is a Hakka, 
as well as many of the ministers in Singapore, although there are only 6%
Hakkas in Singapore.
This has made many of the other Chinese dialect groups in Singapore think
highly of Hakkas in general.
As a Malaysian, you should be proud that Kuala Lumpur, the capital of
Malaysia, was founded by Yap Ah Loy,
a Hakka too.
And these are things that we Hakkas all over the world should be proud of.

- Dixie