Thousands of people participated in the annual Hakka Yimin Festival in Taipei on Sunday. President Ma Ying-jeou and Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin were present to mark one of the most important yearly events of the Hakka people, a linguistic and cultural minority in Taiwan.
About a quarter of the Taiwanese people consider themselves Hakka (in Mandarin: kejia). The Hakka people identify themselves by their shared language, history and culture. Although many young people today cannot speak the Hakka language, they are still considered to be Hakka.
President Ma Ying-jeou said that since he took office, he has been working to preserve the Hakka culture. Ma is part Hakka, and in his speech on Sunday, he spoke a few sentences in the Hakka language.
Ma spoke about his efforts in passing the world’s first Hakka Basic Law, and in declaring January 20 as Hakka Day.
This year’s Hakka Yimin Festival in Taipei began on Friday and will conclude on Monday. Highlights of the festival include traditional music, food, and a procession in which people carry traditional food in baskets suspended from poles.