Museums and Film: Cultural Resonance and Emotional Connection Between Chinese and Malaysian Youth

Editor’s Note: Lim Kah Hao, Director of the Malaysian Chinese Museum, shared a series of observations on how museums, film, and television have become important channels of cultural connection between young people in China and Malaysia. Through examples ranging from museum visits to the popularity of Chinese dramas in Malaysia, he highlighted the natural cultural resonance and emotional connection developing between the younger generations of the two countries.

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I come from a museum background myself and have worked in museums for many years. One thing I feel very fortunate about is that over the past five years, the growing museum culture in China has had a very positive influence on the development of museums in our region as well.

Today, many young Chinese travelers make visiting museums one of their first priorities whenever they arrive in a new country or city.

The Malaysian Chinese Museum is actually located quite far from the city center — about a 30- to 40-minute drive away. Yet many young visitors from China come directly to the museum after landing at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Some of them discovered through Xiaohongshu travel guides that the museum is located along the route into the city, so they arrive with their suitcases in hand and visit the museum before even checking into their hotels.

Through the museum, they gain a first impression of Malaysia’s history, society, and multicultural identity before continuing their trip. To me, this is a very vivid example of civilizational exchange and mutual learning.

I also believe we will continue to welcome even more young Chinese visitors in the near future.

Recently, a film that became very popular in China, Letter to Grandma, focused on the history of Chinese migration to Southeast Asia. Our museum houses a collection of qiaopi — remittance letters sent by overseas Chinese — along with related historical artifacts. Because of this growing interest in Nanyang Chinese history, I expect more young visitors from China to come to the museum in the coming months. This is another excellent example of how cultural narratives can inspire deeper historical understanding.

Of course, cultural exchange is not one-sided.

Do Malaysians also visit museums in China? Absolutely.

Museum education may still be relatively underdeveloped within Malaysia’s education system, but there are still many people deeply interested in history, heritage, and culture. Personally, whenever I travel to China, visiting museums is always one of the first things I do.

What makes these visits especially interesting is that Chinese museums do not only tell China’s story — they also help us rediscover historical connections with Malaysia.

Last year, I attended the ASEAN Cultural Cooperation and Exchange Forum in Liuzhou, Guangxi. During the trip, we visited the Liuzhou Museum, where one exhibition focused on the bronze drum culture of ethnic minorities in southwestern China.

The moment I saw those bronze drums, I immediately recognized their similarity to the Dong Son bronze drums displayed in Malaysia’s National Museum. Bronze drums have also been discovered in places such as Muar and Tangkak in Malaysia, and many date back around 2,000 years.

This shows that cultural exchanges between the regions that are now China and Malaysia had already begun thousands of years ago. For me, this is one of the most meaningful outcomes of museum exchange and shared historical exploration.

At the same time, while museums may not always attract every young Malaysian, there are many other ways for them to understand and connect with China.

Film and television are especially important channels.

Earlier this year, the Chinese drama Zhu Yu became extremely popular in Malaysia. What is interesting is that the audience was not limited to ethnic Chinese Malaysians. Many Malay and other non-Chinese viewers were also watching it, and discussions about the series spread widely across TikTok.

Today, Chinese television dramas export far more than attractive actors or entertaining storylines. Increasingly, they also introduce audiences to traditional Chinese culture and intangible cultural heritage.

A few years ago, Meet Yourself inspired many Malaysians to travel to Dali in Yunnan and learn about Bai ethnic tie-dyeing traditions. In some ways, these traditional dyeing techniques feel surprisingly similar to Malaysia’s own batik culture.

Another popular series, A Dream of Splendor, introduced audiences to Song Dynasty tea culture, including diancha and tea artistry. Many viewers were fascinated to learn about the historical connections between Song tea culture and modern Japanese matcha traditions.

Today, intangible cultural heritage is no longer just decorative background material in Chinese dramas. In many productions, it has become central to the story itself.

For example, the recently aired Family Business, starring Yang Zi, revolves around Huizhou ink-making traditions, one of China’s most famous forms of traditional craftsmanship. Another series, The Protagonist, uses Qin Opera from Shaanxi as a central cultural thread throughout the drama.

These are excellent examples of how cultural storytelling can travel across borders.

From these examples, it is clear that many young Malaysians — especially the post-2000 generation of Chinese Malaysian youth — grew up watching Chinese dramas and variety shows.

As a result, cultural and emotional connection between the people of China and Malaysia already exists very naturally among younger generations.

In fact, many younger people today know more about Chinese celebrities, internet influencers, idol groups, and entertainment culture than people of my own generation do.

This is why cultural exchange through entertainment and popular culture may become one of the strongest bridges between our two countries in the future.

I believe China and Malaysia are already becoming one of the best examples within ASEAN of mutual learning between civilizations.

And we hope to continue strengthening that bridge of friendship, so that future generations in both countries can continue building a shared future together.

(If you have specific expertise, or would like to share your thoughts, please send us your writings at CAobservation@outlook.com)