With its upcoming nationwide release on June 18, the hit Chinese film Dear You has drawn widespread attention among Malaysia's ethnic Chinese community. As of June 13, its box office revenue has already reached 1.7 billion yuan.
Ong Tee Keat, President of the Belt and Road Initiative Caucus for Asia Pacific and former Minister of Transport of Malaysia, expressed great enthusiasm for the film in a recent exclusive interview with South in Guangzhou. He said he planned to watch it with his daughter and grandson, describing the film as a vivid lesson for younger generations about their ancestors' lives.
The film centers on Qiaopi, a distinctive cultural heritage consisting of letters and remittances that once linked overseas Chinese with their distant hometowns.
"The experience of writing Qiaopi is etched in my memory forever," Ong said.
He further explained that his father, who received merely four years of schooling, wrote Qiaopi to his eldest son in Hainan, China, for many years until his passing in 1970.
"It was then that I first came to understand what Qiaopi was," he added.
After his father passed away, Ong, then a junior high school student, had to learn how to write Qiaopi to keep in touch with his elder brother because his mother was illiterate and his second brother had received little schooling.
"Apart from remitting money, we also sent goods, including pork fat, which was precious in that era," Ong recalled.
After decades of being separated by vast oceans, Ong finally reunited with his elder brother in China in 1993. To this day, he still maintains close contact with his grandnephews in Hainan, and speaks the Wenchang dialect fluently and authentically.
Ong believes the dedication, kindness, and integrity highlighted in the film Dear You are inherent virtues embedded in the character of theolder generation of overseas Chinese. These fine qualities were nurtured by simple yet profound family upbringing and passed down quietly from parents to children over generations.
"My father taught us how to interact with others and that integrity must come first. He told us we should never covet anything we don't deserve." Ong told South.
"He didn't receive advanced schooling, yet he subtly influenced us children, day in and day out," he added.
Ong also urged the public not to over-politicise these warm cultural memories. What lies behind Qiaopi and this moving film is pure family affection and lingering nostalgia. Across national borders and through changing times, the deep bond between overseas Chinese and their ancestral homeland endures and continues to resonate.
Reporter | Dong Han
Cameraman | Guo Hongda
Video Editor | Deng Yingheng
Poster | Cheng Hong
