|
|
Interaction between Taiwanese and Overseas Hakka(Jun 29, 2008)
Hello and welcome to the Hakka Files I’m Natalie Tso. This week we’ll talk about how Hakka people in Taiwan interact with Hakka groups from all over the world. There are many Hakka organizations in Taiwan and abroad. They interact with each other to promote Hakka culture throughout the world.
The biggest event that brings Hakka from all over the world together is the biennual World Hakka Reunion. It is held at different major cities every two years. The event was founded in 1971, and there have already been 21 World Hakka Reunions. The World Hakka Reunion is organized by the World Hakka Federation.
The World Hakka Federation is an international organization that was created in November 1971. Another Hakka organization, a Hong Kong based group called the Chung-zheng Organization celebrated their 50th anniversary at the time. It invited 250 representatives from 47 Hakka groups all over the world to attend. That celebration became first World Hakka Reunion and they decided that a new World Hakka Reunion would take place every two years.
The World Hakka Federation was created to plan the reunions and promote greater interaction between Hakka groups all over the world. At the time Hong Kong was still a colony of Great Britain, thus the World Hakka Federation headquarters was located in Taipei.
The World Hakka Federation has facilitated all types of events from cultural to business events – to bring the international Hakka community together.
The World Hakka Federation is a non-local, non-profit, non-government organization devoted to strengthening the Hakka spirit, cultural exchange and social development. Local chapters of the federation hold annual celebrations as far away as the US, Canada, France and Japan. There are also local chapters in Hong Kong, Macau and all over China.
In the decades since the federation came into being, the World Hakka Reunion has grown in popularity. So much so that it is now the biggest Hakka event in the world. Cities around the world with Hakka populations vie with each other for hosting rights. When the competition for hosting rights becomes too strong, sometimes back-to-back reunions are held in successive years.
From 2002, the World Hakka Federation has had an annual Hakka Leaders' Conference in Taipei every year. Scores of Hakka leaders from all around the world attend to report on the state of Hakka life in their home cities. This is a way of exchanging ideas and information, peer-bonding and building solidarity between Hakka all over the world. More and more leaders have been attending the conference every year. In fact, more than 400 attended the latest conference.
There are a lot of Hakka in Japan and both the city of Tokyo and Osaka have Hakka organizations. Japan is also home to a national Hakka organization. In the past, all those Hakka groups held annual celebrations and meetings separately. But under the guidance of the World Hakka federation, the Hakka groups in Japan have now come together to host one big annual celebration. The first day of the meeting takes place in Osaka, the next in Tokyo.
Another goal of the World Hakka Federation is to promote the growth of overseas Hakka organizations. For instance, in July 2007, the US West Coast chapter of the World Hakka Federation was created in San Francisco. This is the fourth chapter of the federation in the United States. Apart from starting new regional groups, the federation also promotes joint events to create larger-scale meetings for more people to attend.
In a world where Taiwan is squeezed in the diplomatic sense, the World Hakka Federation provides a conduit for Taiwan's envoys to meet with local Hakka groups. As Taiwan does not have diplomatic relations with many countries, this channel is a valuable one that widens Taiwan’s diplomatic horizons.
China is still the original homeland for Taiwan's Hakka, and the federation has not forgotten about the mainland in their efforts to strengthen Hakka culture and community. Because of political factors, the Taiwanese government still cannot directly interact with the Chinese government. It is only through non-government organizations that cross-straits exchange can take place. The World Hakka Organization is happy to step into this role. Last year, more than 700 Chinese Hakkas came to Taiwan to attend the reunion. Between 2003 and 2005, three World Hakka Reunions were held in China – they were in Henan, Jiangxi and Sichuan. The Taiwanese government did what it could to facilitate the federation in hosting the meetings, as did the Chinese government.
Because both sides of the Taiwan straits affirms the importance of the World Hakka Reunion for the global Hakka community, every time a World Hakka Federation groups sets off from Taiwan for China, they are given great respect by the authorities there.
Lately, it has been getting so hot in Taiwan. June is also the beginning of Typhoon season. So today let's learn some Hakka words and phrases about the weather.
This is the last episode of the Hakka files. Thanks so much for listening over the past six months. I hope that this program have increased your appreciation of the world of Hakka life and culture in Taiwan. I also hope that at some point you can make it to Taiwan and enjoy Taiwan's Hakka traditions first hand. Thanks for listening, and goodbye.
[ 本帖最后由 huangchunbin 于 2009-7-23 22:48 编辑 ] |
|
狗仔卡
发表于 2009-4-14 21:24:36
变色卡
抢沙发
发表于 2009-4-15 08:32:01
