Instead of asking “How are you?”, Chinese Penangites used to greet each other with the Hokkien phrase “Lu chiak pa buei?”, which translates to, “Have you eaten?”
This dialect of Hokkien was once the primary language spoken throughout Penang, from the hawker stalls to the wet markets; various ethnic groups, such as the Malays and Indians, also spoke it fluently.
However, many young people who were born in Penang no longer speak the dialect due to the growing emphasis on Bahasa Malaysia, English, and Chinese.
The caretaker state government is now moving to address this to prevent the dialect from dying out.
“It has been proposed that the dialect be gazetted as a state heritage under the Penang Heritage Enactment 2011,” caretaker Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said at a public forum on the Penang Hokkien dialect on Wednesday (July 5).
Mr. Chow showed his fluency in languages by alternating between Hokkien and Malay during his speech.
He said gazetting the dialect is one way to preserve Penang’s cultural heritage, but hoped locals will also continue to use it in their daily communication.
He also launched a “Penang Hokkien Dictionary” and a YouTube channel named “Learn Penang Hokkien” by Malaysian activist, Timothy Tye.
Caretaker State Executive Councillor for Tourism and Creative Economy Yeoh Soon Hin later said the gazettement of the Penang Hokkien dialect as a state heritage is underway.
“We will need to submit it to the state heritage council and it needs to be brought up for the state exco approval,” he said.
According to Mr Yeoh, the dialect has been used in Penang for over 300 years, but it is slowly dying out as the younger generation did not learn it when they were growing up.
“A majority of the ethnic Chinese in Penang learn Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia and English in school so Hokkien is seldom used,” he said at the same public forum.
Other than organising a forum about the dialect, Mr Yeoh said the state is also encouraging educational institutions to support the speaking of Hokkien among the younger generation.
“I have also approved an allocation to support an initiative by Han Chiang University College to produce a video of the Penang Hokkien,” he said. MALAY MAIL
