Tai-Lo-hoe kam bo su-iau hiong Kam-chhat-a-iN kap Iap kiok-lan khong-gi?

chit-e bun-te e tiong-tiam u 2--e.

1. Hoa-gi kam u-iaN si tui mui 1 e chok-kun "siong-kiong-peng" e gi-gian ?

2. kong-bu jin-oan si hok-bu jin-bin, m-si jin-bin hok-bu kong-bu jin-oan, 
ki-jian an-ne kong-bu jin-oan tau-te u siaN-mih to-li be-hiau Tai-oan 
jin-bin siong toa chok-kun e bu-gi? 
cheng-hu kong-bu-jin-oan e hiau-pai kam bo su-iau kai?
Kam-chhat-a-iN, Iap kiok-lan si hut-liok ah-si bu-jiok, thun-tah 
toa Tiong-lam-pou kanna e-hiau Ho-lo-oe e lo-kang tai-chiong e koan-ek 
kap chun-giam !!!


<http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2004/09/20/2003203606>

Control Yuan sets rules for future examinations

By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER 
Monday, Sep 20, 2004,Page 2 
The questions on future national examinations for civil servants will not refl
ect examiners' political ideology, nor will they be based on Hoklo, Hakka or A
boriginal languages, the Examination Yuan has decided.

Questions will not discriminate on racial or sexual grounds, nor will they tes
t on classical Chinese composition or literature.

The Control Yuan yesterday ended a year-long controversy surrounding the natio
nal examinations for civil servants after the Examination Yuan pledged that fu
ture national examinations would be fair and steer clear of bias by following 
a "four noes" principle reflecting these points.

Examiners will also be advised to note the proportion of Taiwan-centered quest
ions in national geography and history tests.

The Examination Yuan's resolution was reached during a review meeting in Septe
mber last year and was later approved in a plenary session. 

The changes came in response to a controversy over the use of Hoklo-language q
uestions on Chinese literature tests and over the number of Taiwan-centered qu
estions on history and geography tests in four national exams offered last yea
r.

Although the passages in the tests were written in Chinese characters, they ma
ke sense only to speakers of Hoklo, more commonly known as Taiwanese.

The questions prompted pan-blue lawmakers, most of whom are of mainland Chines
e descent, to claim the exams were biased. The questions also angered the Hakk
a community, as their language is spoken by one-fifth of the population.

Seeking to placate the Hakka minority, the Examination Yuan adjusted one of th
e four national examinations by adding points to Hakka candidates' exam scores
.

The move came after a visit by former Council for Hakka Affairs Chairwoman Yeh
 Chu-lan (èèè­) to Examination Yuan President Yao Chia-wen (å§åæ) to expre
ss her opposition to Hoklo-language questions appearing in the national examin
ation.

Calling such questions unfair and unconstitutional, People First Party (PFP) L
egislator Chin Huei-chu (秦æ
§ç ) took the case to the Control Yuan and request
ed an investigation into the dispute.

She also asked the Control Yuan to determine whether it was acceptable that Ta
iwan's geography and history dominated questions in the tests, since current t
extbooks do not reflect this focus.

The Control Yuan report released in June called it unfair for the Examination 
Yuan to test candidates on a particular dialect, and said this had harmed exam
inees.


chit-phiN sia-lun, sui-jian goa pun-sin bo moa-i, khiok si bok-cheng 
Tai-oan chu-lou mui-the e lun-tiau lai-te sng siong ho--e.


<http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/09/20/2003203653>
Editorial: Exam language rule a mistake



Monday, Sep 20, 2004,Page 8 
The Examination Yuan has come up with "four noes" as guidelines for the settin
g of national-level exams. About three of these noes, no political ideology in
 questions, no racial or sexual discrimination and no classical Chinese litera
ture, we have no complaint. But given the importance of building a Taiwan-cent
ered consciousness, not only among the public at large but in the bureaucracy 
-- which since 1945 has been a redoubt of an ethnic group with very mixed loya
lties -- the fourth no can only be regarded as a huge mistake.

We refer, of course, to the decision that exams are not to be based on any "di
alects that have not been accepted by the general public." This weasel phrase 
actually means languages spoken by the people of Taiwan, such as Hoklo, Hakka 
or Aboriginal tongues.

So what language is to be used for exams? Well, the very one which almost no n
ative used in Taiwan until it was imposed upon Taiwanese by their foreign over
lords in 1945 and ruthlessly promoted during the decades of colonial governmen
t that followed -- namely, Mandarin Chinese. So amid efforts to raise a nation
al consciousness, exams for the civil service must be taken in the language of
 Taiwan's former oppressors and current enemies. It is hard to think of anythi
ng more crass.

The reason why Mandarin Chinese has been chosen as the only medium for nationa
l exams is that it is the one language that everybody who has been through the
 education system -- which presumably includes all those likely to sit for civ
il service exams -- can be guaranteed to speak, so well did the Chinese Nation
alist Party (KMT) do its work. So by adopting the Mandarin-only rule, examiner
s can ensure that no ethnic group is left out.

But Taiwan needs civil servants who identify with Taiwan, and it would seem re
asonable to expect that someone born and educated here who identifies with the
 country might -- in fact should -- be expected to speak one of its languages.
 So some kind of local language component in the exams should be a priority an
d all exams should have a local-language component. 

This could be a simply an extra paper testing candidates' ability in a local l
anguage. Or this paper could be dropped for those who choose take a paper in a
ny other subject using a local language. The idea is a simple one. Have exams 
mainly in Mandarin if you wish, but make sure that all candidates are fluent i
n at least one of the island's languages as well. And, of course, it should be
 up to the candidates to choose which local language they wish to be tested in
.

One problem about such a system is that it will make the Examination Yuan's ta
sk significantly harder; it will have to set and mark exams not only in Mandar
in but also Hoklo, Hakka and any of the 12 recognized Aboriginal languages. Wh
o in the Examination Yuan is capable of setting or marking an exam in the Tao 
language spoken on Orchid Island? On the other hand, this is a wonderful chanc
e to bring one of the stuffiest of Taiwan's bureaucracies into contact with a 
wonderful range of linguistic and cultural diversity.

One group is sure to complain about such an arrangement, and that is the small
 number of Mainlander Mandarin monoglots who monopolized Taiwan's bureaucracy 
for half a century. They will protest about a "linguistic apartheid." Yet of c
ourse it is they who practiced linguistic apartheid, and the system we propose
 which could bring this to an end. Nothing prevents Mainlanders from learning 
a local language, as People First Party Chairman James Soong (å®æ¥ç) and Taip
ei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬è±ä¹) have notably shown.

What Taiwan needs is an exam system in tune with both its cultural and ethnic 
diversity and responsive to the nation's needs. The Examination Yuan's new lan
guage rule is exactly the opposite. 

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