Hakka wife and Hakka province

[Lau Chunfat <96981339r@polyu.edu.hk>]

Dear Hakka Friends,

I would like to tell you a very interesting thing around me. Most of my
relatives also went back to their hoemtowns to get a Hakka wife. They
brought their wives into Hong kong, and speak Hakka among themselves. Then
their wife acquired Cantonese quickly. When the first child comes, the
family consist of a very interesting linguistic picutre: the parents talk
in hakka, but they won't teach the child a word. The main reason is that
Hakka is "useless". It is only a Tuhua, it is no official language.
Knowledge of Hakka brings no credit.

My wife is also of Hakka origin (Bao'on) who came to Hong Kong at her early
childhood. Her mother talked to her in Hakka for the first few years, and
changed to Cantonese when she was about ten. The shifting of mother tongue
is common in Hong Kong and nearby regions. Reason: Hakka is believed to be
unmodern, useless, rude, unable to express complicate ideas, ... etc. My
mother-in-law was educated in Hakka, but she refuse to talk in Therefore,
my wife does not talk to me and the children in Hakka. But I talk to the
children in Hakka and they are fluent speakers. The sad picture is: perhaps
I am the only one in Hong Kong who do this linguistic experiment with his
own children. All my relatives, including my brother, have no Hakka
speaking kids. Most of them even cannot understand a word.

So, you see, marrying a Hakka wife is not a good solution to maintain Hakka
in the macroscopic sense. If our tongue have no provincial status and China
and Guangdong, our voice will be losing in 200 years (except in videos or
tapes). If your are really anxious about the future of our language, just
take it serious to think about establishing a Jiaying Province. 

Hakka is bleeding, Hakka is losing voice, Hakka is dying in no time. Please
help Hakka. Billion (or more) thanks for your support.


Liu Zinfad