Kedah Teochew Association Annual Dinner in Sg. Petani, Kedah

On the 27^th March, I chaired the Kedah MCA Government Policy Bureau meeting in Kedah. In Kedah, the chairman of the Government Policy Monitoring Bureau is Datuk Chong Itt Chew who was a former EXCO member. 

Basically, if we want to monitor government policy in PR states, we must learn how to play the role as an opposition member. Unfortunately, most MCA members don’t seem to know how to play the role as an opposition effectively.  

We need to learn how to oppose constructively and it is important for MCA members to monitor the performance of state government in terms of policy announcement and its implementation if we want to play our role well.

I must admit that after 308 election, a lot of active MCA leaders’ morale were badly dented. While some have recovered, some have not. The economic slowdown is not going to help as the morale booster.

That night, I attended the Kedah Teochew Association’s annual dinner. I was surprised that about 1000 people attended and it was a well-organized dinner with 2 MCs, one speaking in Mandarin and the other in Teochew.

There is a need for parents to speak to their children in dialect. Other than Cantonese, I am worried that most spoken Chinese dialect would slowly but surely suffer a gradual decline, leading to its ultimate ‘death’.

I have the advantage to stay with my parents and since my parents were from China and illiterate, they spoke to me in Teochew. While my children and grandchildren stay with me, we tend to converse in English, Mandarin and only sometime Teochew. I am trying my best to speak to my grandchildren in Teochew, otherwise all the dialects, except Cantonese would suffer from what we call disuse atrophy.

The existence of dialect-based associations face tremendous challenge on how to attract young people to join them and keep the spirit of the dialect group alive.

The next day, I attended the nomination for Bukit Selambau.