{
  "id": 9876848,
  "title": "Pairin Kitingan: Mother tongues risk fading when no longer spoken at home",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/pairin-kitingan-mother-tongues-risk-fading-when-no-longer-spoken-at",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-26T01:21:08.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/news/regional/2026/09/1541370/pairin-kitingan-mother-tongues-risk-fading-when-no-longer-spoken-home"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.",
  "summary": "KOTA KINABALU: Mother tongues risk fading when they are no longer regularly heard and spoken, particularly at home.",
  "key_points": [
    "Mother tongues risk fading when not spoken at home",
    "Kadazandusun Cultural Association president Pairin Kitingan warns of language loss",
    "Importance of speaking native languages at home to preserve them"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Communities' failure to regularly speak their mother tongues at home poses a significant threat to their long-term survival, according to Kadazandusun Cultural Association president Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}