Whether we realise it or not, Penang Hokkien is slowly disappearing. Mandarin is quickly taking over this unique Penang Hokkien dialect and for sure, English is also being affected in daily conversations. Even most of the Penang state government leaders are not from Penang. “Simply replacing Malay loan words with the Taiwanese equivalents does not turn Penang Hokkien into Taiwanese Hokkien either. The grammatical structure of Penang Hokkien is different.”Fearful of the danger of Penang Hokkien dying, Penang Monthly further quoted Churchman as saying “languages often die the same way, and one of the reasons is simply the existence of a generation gap.”That melodious Penang Hokkien may not be heard, decades from now, if this frightening trend continues.

Source: The Star December 02, 2017 23:26 UTC