Learn to Speak PHD – Penang Hokkien Dialect

I was reading this article in The Star about this guy in Penang launching this book about learning to speak Hokkien which I really find fascinating. I would certainly support such move to preserve a mother tongue which is becoming less spoken these days and is diminishing among Chinese Malaysians who are using either more Mandarin or English in their daily lives and at home. I am an advocate in preserving dialects which are one of our most prized heritage passed down to us generations after generations. If not spoken, it will just disappear into thin air as people focused on languages which they think would 'benefit' their children more in the future. It's certainly a sad thing for us to lose these unwritten languages. I would like to say kudos to Tan Choon Hoe for writing the book and the publisher for publishing it. My only criticism about the book is just the title, PHD, a bit lame but catchy, so for the noble idea of conserving an
extincting language, I am willing to close an eye. I hope he will continue to write more books and I would also hope people who can speak Hakka or Cantonese for that matter would write books to help beginners to learn the languages too. I will certainly get copies of any books published on any Malaysian Chinese dialects in Malaysia. Let us not forget our roots, customs and cultures as they, collectively, are identities and social inheritance which define us for who we are.
*image courtesy of TheStar.com