THE Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Maycham) celebrated its fifth anniversary in Beijing last Saturday in a high spirit of Malaysia Boleh.
More than 400 Malaysians and their friends from China, Singapore and other countries turned up in full force to cherish the occasion at a five-star hotel in the Chinese capital.
With a humble beginning in 1994, the only official Malaysian association in China deserves some Oscars for upholding Malaysia’s image and promoting friendship between Malaysians and Chinese.
Birthday bash: Maycham members, friends and Syed Norulzaman (fourth from right) cutting a birthday cake for Maycham’s fifth anniversary. Then, a group of Malaysians set up an informal association, calling themselves Maycham Beijing, with the initial intention to provide networking among the Malaysians living and working in the city.
In 2004, the Malaysian business community managed to officially register themselves under China’s Foreign Chamber Management Provisional Regulation, and thereafter named Maycham.
Under the Malaysian ambassador’s patronage, Maycham has since expanded its wings to the fields of investment and bilateral trade and relations. What Maycham says represents the views of Malaysians in China and the association has earned the trust and respect of the Chinese authorities and public.
Maycham has so far two chapters in Shanghai and Guangzhou (which just opened two weeks ago) with more than 300 members.
During the celebration dinner, unexpected personalities from Malaysia such as singers Dia Fadila, Gary Chaw and Penny Tai added glitter and glamour to the occasion.
Dia belted out several Malay, English and Chinese songs to provide the guests with a memorable night of entertainment. Although Chaw and Tai did not perform at the event, they sent their well-wishes to the Malaysian community in a recorded message on the projector screen.
Having lived overseas for many years for the sake of their singing career, Chaw and Tai knew exactly how it was for Malaysians to gather together and did not hesitate to say something at the event.
Malaysian composer-singer Eric Moo, who has been living in Beijing with his Taiwanese wife and two daughters for several years, also entertained the guests.
Moo has made some friends from Maycham and kept abreast with what is going on back home.
A duet: Dia (left) and Syed Norulzaman crooning for the crowd. “When I performed for Maycham a few years ago, the committee asked me about my fee and I told them I was doing it for free for the Malaysian community,” he said.
“This time, I also bought a few tables and invited my Chinese friends to celebrate together with us.”
Moo is active working as a producer, singer, TV host and judge of several singing and talent shows. He also runs a music production company in the city.
At the event, he relived the rendition of his Mandarin oldies such as Deng Ni Deng Dao Wo Xin Tong (My Heart Feels the Pain While Waiting for You), Tai Sha (Crazy) and Tuan Yuan (Reunion).
When you are living abroad, sometimes you feel lonely. There is always a warm feeling when meeting Malaysians, play sports or have meals together. If we meet each other in the street one day, let’s not forget to exchange greetings, Moo added.
It’s true that you need more friends on a foreign land. After staying in China for about three years now, I always look forward to getting to know new friends, especially Malaysians.
You try to spend time during weekends with them; you try to cook for them and you would go to the karaoke with them.
When I heard about the Maycham dinner, I was excited because I was attending the event for the first time.
However, at the same time, it was a rather sad day to say goodbye to the outgoing Malaysian ambassador Datuk Syed Norulzaman Syed Kamarulzaman.
Maycham paid tribute to the ambassador who had been instrumental in further promoting a long lasting friendship between Malaysia and China in the past five years of his tenure.
Syed Norulzaman will retire from public service in two weeks.
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