In Rebgong county of Qinghai’s Malho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, the government has issued a notice on Jan. 11 in Chinese language that all institutions; government offices, schools and state-owned businesses to use both Tibetan and Chinese languages in equal status on their official seals, signboards, letterhead and all other forms of communication.
This move is instigated by strong protest on the internet after a local hotel of the region, Shang Yon Hotel on Jan 7 forbade Tibetan employees from using their language for communication at work. The hotel had put up a notice to forbid speaking in Tibetan at work and failing to do so would be fined with 500 yuan, which is around US $76.
The notice is though not clearly directed whether it applies to the private businesses or not, it is of a little relief to the Tibetans who at the verge of losing their identity in their own country.
The dire situation in Tibet where the immigration of bulk Chinese people have led to an erosion of the Tibetan cultural, religious and ethnic traditions. Turning out the Tibetans into minority within Tibet is what has been ticking the Tibetans to work at preserving their own identity.
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