The Hokkien culture is starting to stand its ground on modern media. And you don't have to be a Hokkien Nang to notice it. Nowadays, more and more Hokkien shows are on our national TV and also the Astro 'Hokkien Happy Channel' (direct translation).
As compared to the media 5 years ago where Cantonese dominates chinese drama series, this marks the beginning of a paradigm shift. There is a demand for Taiwanese Hokkien drama series which is low in budget and high in quantity (500++ episodes). There are people who have interest and want to learn Hokkien language. Most importantly, there is the media who is now promoting Hokkien language and culture. The prime example would be the Singaporean and Malysian made movie 'Ah Long Pte Ltd'. That show alone packed with enough Hokkien vocabulary (both good and bad) to ... (can't find the word for it).
Personally, as a Hokkien Nang I do not feel much to be proud of nor be otherwise. What we hope to gain from this is that a more unified Hokkien culture will be formed. Just like Cantonese, no more Hokkien slangs segregated by different districts (KL, Penang, Johor etc etc). If Cantonese has no problem being the alternative speaking language, why not Hokkien?
Nowadays, you will be surprised that chinese are not the only ones who speak chinese dialects. In Malaysia, malays and indians alike speak Cantonese and Hokkien fluently. So in short, we must be proud to speak our mother tongue. Otherwise the different dialects will cease to exist and we will all end up like China Chinese where all speak Mandarin (so boring!!).
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