Pairin Kitingan: Mother tongues risk fading when no longer spoken at home

Kota Kinabalu: Mother tongues are at risk of disappearing when they are not regularly heard and spoken, especially within the home, according to Kadazandusun Cultural Association president Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan. Pairin, who can speak Hakka, Tambunan, Penampang, Lotud, and Murut, said his command of his native language nearly faded away during his childhood.

Separated from his parents at ten, he spent years in a school hostel in Tawau, surrounded by Hakka speakers. Pairin observed that communities needed to value and preserve their ancestral languages, even as awareness and use began to grow through writing, publishing and education. He emphasized that language must be spoken at home, serving as the first school, to ensure it continues to be spoken, heard, and kept alive.