RE:Jiaying Province..

[C Lee <clem2@idt.net>]

Dear friends,

I think the debate on "Jiaying Province" is getting to be too political
and as such very personal. Whenever that happens, we tend to lose
objectivity.

We must understand Zinfad's concern for the survival of the Hakka
Language and Culture. His worries are legitimate. It is a fact that less
and less Hakka people speak the Hakka dialects and that may eventually
lead to the extinction of all Hakka dialects. His proposal of a "Jiaying
Province" is his way of thinking that it may be the best way to ensure
the preservation of  the Hakka heritage, language included. His example
of the Hainan situation was that it does help stem the tide of local
language erosion even if Hainan was not created with that purpose in
mind according to our friend Charles Louie. But how pratical is a "Hakka
Province" in relation to China today ? How will the authorities in
Beijing view this especially when they have a bigger headache about
Taiwan?

I think that Henrietta took the right approah in her effort to start a
Hakka class in the greater Toronto area and I sincerely hope that she
will succeed and pave the way for Hakka communities in other parts of
the world to follow her initiative. This is a grassroot movement which
can be a good start to revive interest in the Hakka language again. We
should all support her. Zinfad, any chance of you and your family
migrating to Canada to help the Hakkas there to preserve and educate? As
you can see, the Hakkas in the greater Toronto area are very serious
about it. They even have a conference scheduled in December 2000 and
according to their website the Governor General, Her Excellency Madame
Adrienne Clarkson, whose mother was a Hakka woman, was invited to
attend. Senator Vivienne Poy was also invited to address the opening
ceremony.

Dr. S.L.Lee stressed that we should view our Hakka heritage inclusively
with the Chinese Culture. He is absolutely right as the Hakkas, no
matter where we originated from,  have always been an important part of
the Chinese people from the time of the Emperors  to the Revolution of
Dr. Sun Yat Sen and the People's revolution of Chairman  Mao Tze Tung.
It is a little dangerous today to propose separation especially on
ethnic grounds. Look at what happened to Russia and Yugoslavia.  We are
living in a world where physical boundaries are becoming less and less
important. An example of it is this Hakka Forum where people from all
over the world can participate. We are going towards a global society
that are boundaries free. Yes, it is good to preserve but it should not
be done at the cost of animosities between people. And we are coming
very close to that here!!!

Was it Confucius who said "All men within the four seas are brothers"?

Clem