The success of Aboriginal choir groups over the past few years at numerous international events shows the success of programs teaching Aboriginal languages and gives Aborigines hope that their customs and traditions will not vanish, a Pingtung County Government official said.
Not having developed their own writing systems, Aborigines have relied on the use of songs to pass down tribal wisdom — customs, rites and traditions — from generation to generation, the official said.
However, the songs were themselves dry and uninteresting to younger generations and were in danger of being lost, the official added.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
Taiwu Ancient Ballads Troupe founder and instructor Camake Valaule said that efforts to find old songs and conserve them were abandoned for at least a generation.
“Even the elders sometimes say that learning about the old songs is not worth it,” Camake said.
Cingyeh Elementary School choir instructor Tang Hsiu-yueh (唐秀月) echoed the concern, saying that if children are not taught their native language at a young age, soon no one would know how to sing the songs anymore.
Efforts to promote Aboriginal language education for children within the nation are helping to mitigate the danger, Pingtung County Bureau of Cultural Affairs Director Wu Li-hua (伍麗華) said.
The bureau and other organizations have conducted many field studies on the Paiwan and Rukai languages, the two most prevalent Aboriginal languages in the county, Wu said.
The county spearheaded the movement of starting Aboriginal choir groups, encouraging a shift from using the bel canto method of singing the songs of other groups to having elementary-school choir groups sing their own Aboriginal songs as the songs were meant to be sung.
As a result, many Aboriginal choir groups — including the Taiwu Ancient Ballade Troupe, the Cingyeh Choir and the Puzangalan Children’s Choir — have allowed the world to see the “real” Taiwan.
Puzangalan Children’s Choir instructor Wu Sheng-ying (吳聖穎) said that the choir included a Paiwan song in its performance last week at the 11th International Johannes Brahms Choir Festival and Competition.
The choir won first place in the Children’s Choirs category, as well as placing second in the Folklore category and fifth in the Sacred Choral Music a capella category.
Tang said that those in the choir at Cingyeh Elementary School have become more confident about their Aboriginal culture over the past few years after discovering that the songs of their ancestors are appreciated by others in the world.
The older generation now has hope that customs and traditions will be passed on, Camake said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS