Living together for 40 years

Ping-pong diplomacy ... Tan Sri Chen with the letter inviting the Malaysian table-tennis team to Beijing.

Malaysia and China celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year. The Star is running a series of articles to commemorate the event, beginning today with one of the Malaysian ‘matchmakers’ recalling the early courtship, the ‘chemistry’ and the problems to be worked out during the early years of the relationship.

AS president of the Table Tennis Association of Malaysia, Tan Sri Michael Chen was invited to become a member of the Malaysian delegation to the first Asia-Latin America ping-pong tournament in 1971.