Hakka Affairs Council Deputy Minister Yiong Cong-ziin (楊長鎮) attended the sixth annual conference of the International Association of Language Commissioners (IALC) on June 27 in Toronto. Founded in 2013, IALC is an independent institution comprising language commissioners and supervisors from around the globe that aims to promote and protect the right of minorities to use their own languages. This is the first time that Taiwan was invited to the two-day event and introduced to attendants from all over the world, including Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Kosovo, Spain, and Wales.

What made Yiong’s speech unusual was that he delivered it in his mother tongue and finished his presentation by singing a Hakka folk song. In his speech titled “Complex intertwinement of national identity, language policy and ethnic consciousness: A long road to revitalizing the Hakka,” Yiong shared his traumatic experience of being slapped by his teacher at a young age for speaking Hakka at school.

He further noted that Taiwan had undergone linguistic and cultural repression but it now embraces all ethnic identities by striving to become a multilingual society. This year, the National Languages Development Act (國家語言發展法) was implemented in Taiwan, so the Hakka has officially become one of the national languages, Yiong added. He was given a standing ovation at the end of his inspiring speech.

After the conference, Yiong was interviewed by a reporter from the Central News Agency (CNA). He said that almost every country around the globe employs a team of “language commissioners” under a distinctive supervision system. After the law that protects minority languages is passed, an independent institution of language commissioners is usually established by the government to supervise both public and private sectors and their enforcement of the law, added Yiong.

Yiong pointed out that the regulatory mechanism of language commissioners is a good model for Taiwan to adopt. He has conducted research via related documents and publications during this Toronto visit, and will hold discussions with officials from the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Education, and Council of Indigenous Peoples about the possible establishment of such a mechanism in Taiwan.

Meri Huws, the former Welsh Language Commissioner who contributed to Taiwan’s involvement in the conference this year, told CNA that she became more familiar with the challenges facing Taiwan’s ethnic groups when she visited the country last year. She believes that Taiwan’s participation in the Toronto meeting has greatly benefitted IALC itself and the promotion of minority languages.

Despite the difficulties, Huws said, Taiwan still cradles an undiminished enthusiasm for preserving and revitalizing the languages of ethnic minorities. The only way to deal with the task is education, she added, emphasizing that younger generations should be encouraged to unceasingly learn and use their non-dominant languages in daily life.