What we’re about
This is a meetup group for anyone who is a Hokkien fan, and who is interested in learning Hokkien language and culture.
Hokkien is a Chinese language (sometimes known as "Chinese dialect" in Singapore) that originated from Southern Fujian province of China (known as "Minnan 閩南" and had spreaded to Taiwan and the Hokkien diaspora in South East Asia, including Singapore. Today, there are around 50 million native Hokkien speakers in the world, including Hokkien speakers in Southern Fujian, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines etc.
Hokkien forms the largest Chinese dialect group in Singapore (around 41%) and was the lingua franca amongst Singaporean Chinese before the Speak Mandarin Campaign of 1979. Therefore, Hokkien played an important role in shaping local Singaporean Chinese culture in Singapore's history. Many road and places' names in Singapore are in Hokkien such as Joo Chiat 如切, Ang Mo Kio （originally 紅毛橋） , Kay Poh Road （繼寶路, Hokkien street etc. In fact, Singapore's country name in Chinese 新加坡 was transliterated from the word "Singapore" using Hokkien pronunciation "sin-ka-pho" 新加坡.
Come down to chit chat in Hokkien and talk about any topics in Hokkien. We sometimes also organize going to Karaoke to sing Hokkien songs and it will be fun and cool. Learning to sing Hokkien song is a great way to learn Hokkien.
You're encouraged to speak Hokkien during the meetup, as it would be a good opportunity for you to practice and improve your Hokkien.
Even if you do not speak Hokkien or a beginner in Hokkien, but are interested in learning Hokkien, we also welcome you to come down for the chill. You can learn to speak Hokkien for free in an informal, casual and conversational environment. You can also make many friends who are interested in Hokkien
