The impact of green fnance on environmental degradation in BRI region

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the world, accounting for more than 30% of global GDP and 60% of world population. The economic growth of BRI member countries can be improved signifcantly, attributable to the success‑fulness of the infrastructure projects. The increased economic growth indirectly leads to higher energy consumption and environmental damage. In response to this, the BRI estab‑ lished a new concept and version of the project, namely green BRI. Thus, this study aims to examine if green fnance plays a signifcant role in mitigating environmental degradation in the BRI region. Utilising a Generalised Method of Moments approach, we fnd green fnance is negatively and signifcantly correlated with environmental degradation, suggest‑ing green fnance play an essential role to reduce the deterioration of environmental qual‑ ity, while enhancing economic growth at the same time. In conclusion, BRI member states should continue promoting green fnance by implementing incentive schemes, such as subsidising interest rates for the green loan, reducing corporate tax and establishing green credit guarantee scheme. Besides, in order simultaneously enhance economic growth, pro‑mote sustainability and achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, both governments and private sector should work hand in hand to promote green transformation of BRI

Language attitudes towards hokkien and mandarin among students in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)

It was reported that half of the world languages were dying due to language shift and language death. It was estimated that approximately six hundred languages would still be used by the year 2010. Hokkien, as a vernacular language in Malaysia, had showed symptoms of language shift. Thus, this study was carried out to examine the language attitudes towards Mandarin and Hokkien. It was conducted among the students in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). The two objectives of this study were to uncover these students’ attitudes towards the two languages, the speakers of these two languages as well as the level of pride of the participants towards their own Hokkien identity. This study had used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods which were matched-guise technique, questionnaire and interview. A total of 50 participants took part in this study with 25 males and 25 females. All of them were involved in matched-guise technique and questionnaire but only ten participants with strong Hokkien identity were interviewed. The statistical analysis from matched-guise technique showed that these participants had conformed to the expected situation where Mandarin, a standard language, was ranked higher than Hokkien, a vernacular language. The same results were found when analysis of questionnaires and interviews were conducted, that is, Hokkien was ranked socially lower because the domains it covered were restricted. In contrast, Mandarin was perceived as a language that was widely used in both formal and informal situations. Thus, the assumption of such results in the findings was due to the increasing used of Mandarin in Malaysia society. Even though a majority of the participants self-reported that they were proud of their own Hokkien identity, language shift was seen in the participants’ attitudes towards the language where Mandarin was slowly taking over the role of Hokkien

Language attitudes towards own vernacular language and mandarin among Foochow and Hokkien speakers in Kuching

The aim of this study was to examine language choice patterns in various domains and the attitudes of Foochow and Hokkien speakers in Kuching, Sarawak towards own vernacular language and Mandarin. The specific objectives of this research include language use of Foochow and Hokkien speakers in nine domains, the reasons of their language choices as well as status of language and its speakers. To find out whether the Foochow and Hokkien speakers’ attitudes towards Mandarin and their vernacular language are influenced by sociodemographic variables, gender, age and socio-economic status are the three variables included in this study. Matched-guise technique, survey and interview were used for data collection and 444 Chinese speakers were involved in this study. The findings showed that Bahasa Malaysia, English and Mandarin were used in more formal situations, such as in formal transaction, religion, government, education, employment and media domains while vernacular languages or Mandarin were spoken during informal transactions and in the friendship domain. The participants’ language use patterns at home were due to three factors: intermarriage, desire for intergenerational transmission of vernacular language, and children’s education whereas ethnicity of the interactants and formality of the situations were the other two factors that influenced the participants’ language choice outside home. As matched guise technique was used to elicit the language attitudes of a large number of participants indirectly, the paired t-tests results indicated that both Foochow and Hokkien participants showed positive attitudes towards Mandarin speakers. This was similar to the iii participants’ self-reported data where they rated Mandarin as having higher status and more usage than their vernacular language. When comparing the results for Foochow and Hokkien speakers, Hokkien has higher prestige than Foochow in Kuching, Sarawak due to the institutional support it receives. In this study, the functions of Hokkien are similar to Mandarin, not only for the Hokkien people but also for other Chinese sub-groups. Hence, Hokkien is considered as High language while Foochow is considered as Low language in Kuching for the Chinese speech community

Dominant Language–Ethnicity Notions of the Malaysian Chinese in Sarawak: Paternity or Patrimony?

This study examines the relationship between language and ethnicity in the identities of Malaysian Chinese, using Fishman’s (1977) dimensions of paternity, patrimony and phenomenology. The data for the study were taken from language attitude questionnaires completed by 300 Chinese (150 Foochow, 150 Hokkien) and interviews with 18 participants (nine Foochow, nine Hokkien) living in Kuching, the capital city of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. The questionnaire results suggest that Chinese from the Foochow and Hokkien participant groups believe in both the paternity and patrimony dimensions of ethnicity, but the interview results also revealed a tendency towards viewing ethnicity as an inherited characteristic. Some are of the view that those who are of Foochow/Hokkien descent but cannot speak the ethnic language are “half Foochow/Hokkien”. The interview results also suggest that comparatively more Hokkien participants than Foochow participants may be inclined towards the patrimonial view of ethnicity. This finding is further supported by questionnaire results showing more frequent use of the ethnic language (Foochow/Hokkien) by the Hokkien than by the Foochow. Both sources of data provide evidence that Foochow and Hokkien in Malaysia use Mandarin for daily communication to a greater extent than their ethnic language. The findings indicate that ethnic language use is linked to conceptualisation of ethnicit

Home Ground Notions Influencing Foochow And Hokkien Speakers’ Language Use In Kuching, Sarawak

In the past, ethnic groups tend to be concentrated in certain localities and their interactions tend to be within their own group. However, with past migration for educational and career purposes, ethnic groups are now spread all over. Even so, the notion of homeland and home ground are still entrenched in the minds of the people. Specific reference is made to the Chinese sub-groups in Sarawak, and this study focusses on the Foochow whose homeland is Sibu and the Rejang hinterland and the Hokkien whose homeland is Kuching. The study examined the languages used by Foochow and Hokkien speakers in urban Kuching and the reasons for their language choice. A case study was conducted on twenty Chinese residing in Kuching (10 Foochow and 10 Hokkien). The results showed that the Hokkien participants speak Hokkien in the family domain regardless of whether there is intermarriage but the Foochow participants choose Mandarin if their spouse is from other Chinese sub-groups. For interactions with other Chinese, the Hokkien participants’ first choice is Hokkien but the Foochow would only speak Foochow to other Foochow people and use Hokkien and Mandarin with other Chinese. For interethnic interactions, English, Bahasa Melayu and Iban are used. Various reasons for the language choices were reported by the participants but it seems that the most important finding that emerged is that the Chinese sub-groups would speak their dialect only on their “home ground” but when they are on “away ground”, they seek to blend in

Language Attitudes Of Hokkien Speakers Towards Hokkien and Mandarin

The paper examined the attitudes of Hokkien speakers towards their vernacular language and Mandarin. The participants for the study were 50 students at a Malaysian university in Kuching, Sarawak who were of Hokkien parentage and spoke Hokkien. Data collected using the matched-guise technique were analyzed using a paired t-test to investigate whether the participants' attitudes towards these two languages were significantly different. The results showed that Mandarin was ranked significantly higher than Hokkien on both status and solidarity dimensions. The study revealed that, based on the participants' subconscious reactions to selected traits examined in the matched-guise technique, participants with a strong Hokkien identity are likely to perceive Hokkien speakers as less educated, having less leadership skills and more humorous than Mandarin speakers. As a group, the participants were found to have closer affinity to Mandarin speakers. The findings have implications on language maintenance efforts of speech communities concerned with diminished affiliation of the younger generation with vernacular languages

Sociocultural traits and language attitudes of Chinese Foochow and Hokkien in Malaysia

This study examined the effect of age, gender and socio-economic status on attitudes of Malaysians of Chinese descent towards their Chinese dialect and Mandarin, the standard Chinese language. A survey of 300 Chinese (150 Foochow and 150 Hokkien) living in Kuching, Sarawak was conducted. Their Chinese dialect is valued as an ethnic marker but does not derive its importance from numerical dominance or status of ingroup members. The Foochow and Hokkien participants are significantly different in their attitudes on the importance of their Chinese dialect and Mandarin, and their pride in using these languages but are similar in doubting the instrumental value of their Chinese dialect and Mandarin, feeling embarrassed for not speaking the Chinese languages, and valuing their Chinese dialect as an ethnic marker. Factor analyses identified four and six factors which explained 75.85% and 77.32% of the variance for the Foochow and Hokkien participants' attitudes respectively. The Foochow participants have more homogenous language attitudes than the Hokkien participants. Gender did not have a significant main effect on the language attitudes of both groups but age significantly influenced the Hokkien participants' attitudes. Socio-economic status has significant main and interaction effects on attitudes of both the Foochow and Hokkien participants

Malaysian Chinese speakers' attitudes towards Foochow, Hokkien and Mandarin

The study examines the influence of gender, age and socio-economic status on attitudes of Foochow and Hokkien towards their ethnic language and Mandarin. The matched guise test results of 120 Foochow and 120 Hokkien participants in Kuching, Malaysia, showed positive attitudes towards Mandarin on all the 15 traits. The Hokkien participants were more positive than the Foochow participants towards speakers of their own ethnic language. Foochow speakers were perceived as loud, and the male Foochow speaker was rated unfavourably on five other traits. Multivariate analysis of variance results showed that gender significantly influenced the Foochow participants' ratings of the wealth of Foochow speakers and the Hokkien participants' ratings of the easy-going nature of Mandarin speakers, the gentleness and solidarity of the male Mandarin speaker, and the height and intelligence of the male Hokkien speaker. Age influenced the attributions of status to the female Foochow speaker and solidarity with the female Mandarin speaker. Socio-economic status influenced the ratings of the most number of traits. Interaction effects were also found. The underlying dimensions loaded onto one factor each for Foochow (easy-going and rich) and Hokkien (formal, strong solidarity) and two different factors for Mandarin, suggesting different stereotypes of dialect and Mandarin speakers