wfn.org | Students Speak Taiwanese Fearlessly and Win Prizes!

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Taiwan Church News 2636, September 8, 2002
Reported by Lin Yi Shin.  Translated and Rewritten by David
Alexander

    Three costumed elementary school students performed a skit
about the life of George Leslie Mackay, a 19th century pioneer
evangelist from Canada to Northern Taiwan.  They portrayed the
ways that he settled in, learned Taiwanese from 'cowboys', won
hearts through dentistry, basic medical care and preaching, grew
old and died here.  The entire performance was done in clear
Taiwanese.
    The play was presented as a prelude to the final rounds of a
"Tell Bible Stories in Taiwanese Contest" sponsored by Taiwan's
International Bible Society and the Northern Synod of the
Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT).  It was held on August 31st
in Taipei.  This contest is one of many events commemorating the
130th anniversary of Rev. Mackay's arrival in Taiwan.
   Though Mackay learned Taiwanese from children, a person would
have a difficult time doing so today.  Children are immersed in
an educational and mass media world that operates in Mandarin
Chinese.  For forty years, beginning about 1950, the use of
Taiwanese for education and at public events was discouraged and
sometimes suppressed.  Children speaking Taiwanese in school were
hit with monetary fines.  By the time the lid was lifted, the
ability to speak the mother tongue had been severely hampered.
    Rev. Ang Siu-kiong, the Bible Society's chairman, urged
contestants to brush up on their pronunciation and be careful of
falling into the use of Mandarin cognates.  He is concerned about
the beauty of Taiwanese becoming lost as original pronunciations
evolve.
    The judging panel was headed by the Rev. Khu Kheng-oan. She is
the program secretary for Mother Tongue Bible Translation at the
PCT's General Assembly.  Ms. Khu said that she was so moved by
the sight and sound of children using their mother tongue that
she became generous in her judgments.
    First place in the elementary school category was awarded to a
student from Beng-kah Church in Taipei.  The Middle School Prize
was taken home by a member of Tiong-cheng Cheng Church in
Hsin-chu.

For more information: Khu Kheng-oan  chelsea@ms2.pct.org.tw
		       Bible Society  TEL +886 2 2751 0882
				      FAX +886 2 2775 4163

Taiwan Church News is published weekly in Chinese.
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