Parishes in Yunlin with prominent vocations

Chúi-bé (水尾) parish is in Lunbei, Yunlin County. The entire village is surnamed Chung and catholic. So this small parish is like their family church. Even the current archbishop of Taipei is from this parish!

It was founded by a local couple who were lay catechists. Lay catechists are important!

In nearby village of Chhiú-á-kha (樹仔腳；饒平), there is also a prominent parish that produced a lot of vocations.

In the churchyard, there's a big open space for pān-toh. It must seldom rain here!

Thank you, Fr Chang Chin-chen, for your warm hospitality!

琉球ウミンチュの像

基隆（キールン）のスペイン統治時代サン・サルバドル城があったあたりに、「琉球ウミンチュの像」があります。スペイン時代にはもう琉球人がここに暮らしていたようですが、この像は1947年の二二八事件で国民党に惨殺された琉球人に慰霊のために、台湾から引き揚げた沖縄の人が建てたそうです。とはいえセンシティブな歴史なので、石碑にはその辺ははっきりと書いてありません。結構台湾人観光客が訪れていましたが、その会話を聞いていると、台湾南部の離島「小琉球」の人の像だと勘違いしているようでした。ちなみに小琉球にはオランダ人にネグリトが燻り殺されたという洞窟が残っています。いずれにせよ、このウミンチュは足が折れて可哀想でした。

Ruins of Todos Los Santos in San Salvador (Keelung)

 

The post city of Keelung used to be called San Salvador when it was under Spanish occupation. Several years ago, archeologists found the ruins of the Dominican Church of All Saints (Todos los Santos) under a parking lot. They also found human remains and some items including a cross. It was here that Japanese Dominican missionaries from Manila were formed before being sent to Japan only to be martyred there. All the saints, particularly the Dominican missionaries who worked evangelization of Japan, pray for us!

By the way, had the Spaniards not been kicked out by the Dutch, Taiwan would have been part of the Philippines today. The local Basay language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian (Austronesian) language family and shares many similarities with Philippine languages. For example, "ulan" means rain in both Basay and Tagalog! Besides, the Spaniards brought in many Kapampangans from central Luzon to fight against the invading Dutch. And even today, there are many guest workers from the Philippines all over Taiwan, including Keelung.

臺灣意識愈強，閩南語愈弱？

愈是在臺灣意識高漲、政府開始注入大筆預算推動本土語言後長大的人，愈不願意跟自己的小孩說閩南語。也難怪，就算臺灣意識繼續普及下去，約25年後閩南語在臺灣會絕響。https://www.tsatw.org.tw/up_photo/moon-system/images/20190710112043_4392.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0nkRPGxtky8SNxifm3RFl7hlDU_FWBRmaKJByGyM8Kbq53Oi1vO5k4uYg

Imminent death of Taiwanese Hokkien?

Only 7.4% of kids in Taiwan speak Taiwanese. This is the generation that grew up decades after the government started spending a lot of money to promote non-Mandarin languages, including for Taiwanese as a subject in elementary education. Why does Taiwanese keep receding while Taiwan identity continues to spread? Why are parents with strong Taiwan identity choosing to raise their kids in the language of Beijing? There has to be a better explanation than that the KMT’s language policy, which ended ages ago, was extremely successful. #imminentdeathoftaiwanesehttps://www.thenewslens.com/article/157030

Re editorial of Taipei Times: Language is not just a tool

My comment after reading the Taipei Times editorial on a legislator who insisted on speaking Hokkien:

While it's true that language is not just a tool but a marker of identity, it remains to be seen if pragmatic Taiwanese people will accept the inconvenience of having to communicate among themselves through interpreters, while already having a lingua franca they all understand. Just as Hokkien became the language of Taiwanese identity by replacing numerous other languages both Sinitic and Austronesian, Mandarin does have a chance to become a language of Taiwanese identity once day. Or perhaps it already has.

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2021/10/06/2003765596

Mandarin now endonormative in Taiwan

Standard Mandarin used to be exonormative in Taiwan, but the norm giver later moved to the island, and then lost the mainland. Today, unless you are opposed to it for ideological reasons, Taiwan Mandarin is entirely endonormative in Taiwan, and has even become the "language of the heart" especially for the younger generation both domestically and among the diaspora.