A shared history in more ways than one

One for the album: Nur Jazlan (right) with honorary adviser of the Malay Chinese Studies Centre at Beijing Foreign Studies University Senator Prof Datuk Seri Dr Awang Sariyan (centre) and Han Culture Centre of Malaysia president Datuk Goh Hin San after the launch of the seminar at Parliament. — Bernama

PETALING JAYA: As Malaysia and China celebrate the golden jubilee of their diplomatic ties, Dewan Negara deputy president Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed has recounted his ancestral ties to the Middle Kingdom.

The 58-year-old leader said his maternal grandfather migrated to Malaysia in 1920 as China was grappling with an economic crisis as a result of the Opium Wars.

“My late grandfather migrated here from Guangdong province in 1920 to build a new life and, in 1990, he returned to China to build one of the first international hotels in the country, which is the Equatorial Hotel in Shanghai.

“He became successful in Malaysia and then returned to contribute to the development of China,” he said in his keynote speech at a seminar held in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Malaysia-China diplomatic relations in Parliament yesterday.

That was not the only significant moment in the former Pulai MP’s family history with China.

His father, the late Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat, was a deputy minister and part of then Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein’s delegation to Beijing in 1974.

In that historic visit that cemented diplomatic ties between the two countries, Abdul Razak shook hands with Chinese paramount leader Mao Zedong in Beijing, and signed a joint communique with Chinese premier Zhou Enlai on May 31, 1974.

Malaysia also became the first Asean country to forge diplomatic ties with China, thus heralding a new era of cooperation and friendship.

“I hope the relationship between the two countries will not only continue through diplomatic and cultural diplomacy, but also in the aspects of business and economy,” said Nur Jazlan.

The former deputy home minister, who is from Umno, said Malaysia had in the past lent its support to China’s initial stages of developing its economy and initiating economic reforms, and now, the country has progressed from a small economy to the second largest in the world.

“In the past we offered technical and economic support in the development of China, but now we are attracting Chinese businesses to invest in Malaysia through various initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative and East Coast Rail Link project built by Chinese contractors.

“While they did not have skilled contractors in the past, in just 30 years they have become capable of building mega projects in Malaysia and helping spur the economy,” Nur Jazlan said.