I am Richard Ngui Mon Kiong from Sarawak, Malaysia. My ancestral home is Gutian County, Ningde City (formerly Gutian County, Fuzhou Prefecture), and I am currently studying at the University of Technology Sarawak.

First of all, I would like to thank the Fuzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League of China for the warm invitation and the opportunity to participate in the Haisi Youth Exchange Camp. The exchange camp is a five-day program with participants from all over the world, including China, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Myanmar and Iran.

Fuzhou is my root. My ancestors came from Fuzhou hundreds of years ago after a long and arduous journey to the small city of Sibu in Malaysia, also known as Little Fuzhou. As soon as I got off the plane here, I heard everyone around me speaking Fuzhou, and a sense of familiarity instantly embraced me, as if I had left home and returned to another "home".

As part of the exchange camp activity, we visited big and small attractions in Fuzhou, including Sanfang Qixiang, Guling, and Yantai Hill. One of the attractions that impressed me the most was Liem Sioe Liong Memorial Hall, which tells the story of a courageous Chinese man Mr. Liem Sioe Liong, who had gone through untold hardships and worked hard overseas, but never forgot his roots. After achieving success, he still chose to make great contributions to our common ancestral land China. This touched me deeply.

As a Malaysian Chinese, I am very grateful for the tireless efforts of Chinese ancestors and the support of the Chinese government, which have enabled our Chinese culture to be preserved thousands of miles away in Malaysia, so that I have had the opportunity to be influenced by Chinese culture in Malaysia since childhood and speak fluent Chinese, for which I feel proud. I hope that one day I will be able to contribute to our common ancestral land as Mr. Liem did.

Author: Richard Ngui Mon Kiong, a student at the University of Technology Sarawak, Malaysia

Photos: Hong Ning