By Yen Feng

'JIAK bui bor?' asked Mr Mah Bow Tan of the thousands of Hainanese gathered at Singapore Expo yesterday.

His question, meaning 'Have you eaten?' in the Hainanese dialect and doubling as a greeting, drew immediate applause from the 2,500-strong crowd from as many as 28 countries, some as far afield as Suriname in South America.

The Minister for National Development, himself a Hainanese, was at the biennial Congress of the World Federation of Hainanese Associations being held here this year.

For more The Straits Times stories, click here.