My reply to Hope for Hakka based on research. Research/Truth: Who is Hakka/Who speaks Hakka.

[Kelvin & Henri <kachie-hakit@account-pro.com>]

Dear Dr. Lau,
Research on who is Hakka and who speaks Hakka is also a good idea. In
Toronto, there's 380,000 recorded Chinese people. For Hakkas, it's not an
ethnic group defined by Statistics Canada. There's Hakkas here from all
over the world. Some people call themselves Fijians, Tahitians, Jamaicans,
West Indians, Chinese, and so on, but their ethnic background could be
Hakka. The 1996 Census had a question on it: define your ethnic identity: I
put Hakka, Cantonese, Carib, Spanish, Trinidadian, West Indian, Canadian.
And I think the category for people like me is: n.i.e. which means not
included elsewhere. So what about the mixed people with mixed roots, are
they to be denied their Hakka background? Statistics are great, but the
whole issue of who is Hakka could be a debate for us for centuries to come.

I don't think the Hakka language is dying, maybe fewer people are teaching
their kids, but there's a huge strong will among Hakka people, and I don't
think some Hakka people will allow any part of their culture to die.

As for Hakkas in cyberspace, I've been waiting for feedback on this idea.
As already shown, by you and others here at the forum, debate about issues
relating to Hakka people is important and to have a forum that we can
communicate peacefully and live all over the world, is something positive
and a learning experience for all of us, where barriers are broken down,
and I may not speak Hakka, but I can learn from Hakka speaking people what
their lives are like in the part of the world they may live.

If there's any special Hakka customs you would like to teach me, I am ready
to learn.
Sincerely,
Henrietta.

At 09:18 AM 06/05/2000 +0800, you wrote:
>   Dear Henrietta,     dream of a scholar. Every Hakka who is capable of
>the  tongue must realize this fact in order to keep our language alive. I
>am bringing  a sense of danger ahead, and if all Hakka people are alert, we
>can prevent the  Hakka language lost. When a language dies, the culture
>will also be lost later.  This happened thousands of times in history and
>prehistory. Maybe you just want  to ignore it because you do not want to
>see it. This is good because you have a  sentment for Hakka, but if you are
>burried by the blind optimism that Hakka will  be kept for generation in
>the way it is behaving today, you are also helping the  decline of Hakka.  
>        The Jiaying  province is only one possible solution and maybe you
>can suggest more and better  ones. But remember, no hope can be built on
>pure imaginations, we can solve  problems only by doing research and find
>out the truth.    With best regards,   Chunfat