Protestors decry discrimination against Taiwanese language (fwd link)

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Taiwan Church News
2997 Edition August 3~9, 2009

Protestors decry discrimination against Taiwanese language

>Reported by Lin Yi-ying
>Written by Lydia Ma

An organization opposing the discrimination of Taiwanese language gathered
outside the Ministry of Education (MOE) on July 28th and threw  sacks full of
fake snakes to show their displeasure. “I am Taiwanese, not  Minnan!” shouted
some protesters.

According to reports, elementary school and junior high school curricula across
Taiwan refer to Taiwanese language as “Minnan language”,  but the original
meaning of the character “Min” in “Minnan” is  “snake”.

“Using the term ‘Minnan people’ to refer to  Taiwanese people is the same as
saying we’re descendants of snakes. This is downright  offensive!” said Taiffalo
Chiung, a professor of Taiwanese literature at National Cheng Kung University
who is also a leader of the organization that planned the protest.

Access full article below:
http://www.wfn.org/2009/08/msg00051.html