GEORGETOWN — Instead of asking “How are you?”, Chinese Penangites used to greet each other with the Hokkien phrase “Lu chiak pa boey?”, which translates to, “Have you eaten?”

From the hawker stalls to the wet markets, this version of Hokkien used to be the lingua franca of Penang; it was also spoken with ease by other local ethnic groups including the Indians and Malays.

But with the increasing focus on Bahasa Malaysia, English and Mandarin, many Penang-born youths no longer speak the dialect.

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).

In a demonstration of his linguistic prowess, Mr Chow switched between speaking in Hokkien and Malay in 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