PERSISTENCE & PRESERVATION OF HAKKA CULTURE
raelations vulnerable to interruption.
47
2. The continuing use of the Hakka dialect is an important factor in the perpetuation and preservation of Hakka culture. However, on the basis of culture and language, the differences between the Hakka and the Cantonese are much less than those between the Chaochow and the Hakka or the Cantonese (Skinner, 1960:87). In addition, in Hong Kong the "pang" organization based on a combination of locality, dialect, and kinship is not so dominant as it is in the Chinese community of Singapore or Malaysia (Suyama, 1962: 196; Freedman, 1960:70). (It even manifested itself in the division of residential areas in early Singapore (Hodder, 1953:31; Hsieh, 1977:69-70).9) Also, unlike the Chinese in the Philippines, where the native majority group exerts a strong pressure on the Chinese in a "cultural involution” in the Chinese community (See, 1976:206), i.e. elaboration and multiplication of the traditional associations in order to serve as a mechanism for perpetuating Chinese culture in the "cultural crisis,” the Waichow Hakka in Hong Kong are in fact settled within a Chinese society of which Cantonese is the lingua franca. There is no organized pressure exerted on them at all. As time goes on, the “immediate model" that accounts for the continued existence of their own sub-cultural variations (Ward, 1965:135) will be weakened following the vanishing of the Hakka dialect. For instance, the establishment of a "fa-pau-hui" (literally, fire-cracker meeting) by the Waichow Un Long* Residents Association in the interests of active participation in the religious activities of the local residents gives Waichow Hakka a strong sense of local belongingness; the adoption of Cantonese but not the Hakka dialect as the medium of teaching in the Waichow schools makes the pupils from the Waichow Hakka families undifferentiated from the local children.10 All these practices must weaken the Waichow Hakka's cultural identity. Furthermore, judging by my personal experience in fieldwork, very few Waichow Hakka of the second generation can speak their own Hakka dialect, not to mention those of the third generation. Thus, the continuation of the current development will facilitate the localization process.
3. Another way for the Hakka people to perpetuate their particular culture is through the practice of endogamy, i.e., marriage
* Yuen Long, a market town in the New Territories.
PERSISTENCE & PRESERVATION OF HAKKA CULTURE
raelations vulnerable to interruption.
47
2. The continuing use of the Hakka dialect is an important factor in the perpetuation and preservation of Hakka culture. However, on the basis of culture and language, the differences be- tween the Hakka and the Cantonese are much less than those be- tween the Chaochow and the Hakka or the Cantonese (Skinner, 1960:87). In addition, in Hong Kong the "pang" organization based on a combination of locality, dialect, and kinship is not so dominant as it is in the Chinese community of Singapore or Malaysia (Suyama, 1962: 196; Freedman, 1960:70). (It even mani- fested itself in the division of residential areas in early Singapore (Hodder, 1953:31; Hsieh, 1977:69-70).9) Also, unlike the Chinese in the Philippines, where the native majority group exerts a strong pressure on the Chinese in a "cultural involution” in the Chinese community (See, 1976:206), i.e. elaboration and multiplication of the traditional associations in order to serve as a mechanism for prepetuating Chinese culture in the "cultural crisis,” the Waichow Hakka in Hong Kong are in fact settled within a Chinese society of which Cantonest is the lingua franca. There is no organized pressure exerted on them at all. As time goes on, the “immediate model" that accounts for the continued existence of their own sub. cultural variations (Ward, 1965:135) will be weakened following the vanishing of the Hakka dialect. For instance, the establishment of a "fa-pau-hui" (literally, fire-cracker meeting) by the Waichow Un Long* Residents Association in the interests of active participa- tion in the religious activities of the local residents gives Waichow Hakka a strong sense of local belongingness; the adoption of Cantonese but not the Hakka dialect as the medium of teaching in the Waichow schools makes the pupils from the Waichow Hakka families undifferentiated from the local children.10 All these prac- tices must weaken the Waichow Hakka's cultural identity. Further- more, judging by my personal experience in fieldwork, very few Waichow Hakka of the second generation can speak their own Hakka dialect, not to mention those of the third generation. Thus, the continuation of the current development will facilitate the locali- zation process.
3. Another way for the Hakka people to perpetuate their par- ticlar culture is through the practice of endogamy, i.e., marriage
* Yuen Long, a market town in the New Territories.
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