[Watch] Malaysian Grandfather From Alor Setar Fought In WWII China, Granddaughter Found Out 80 Years Later
A Malaysian-Chinese woman discovered her late grandfather’s wartime photographs on a public wall in Kunming 33 years after his death — he had served in China during WWII, survived a siege, walked 24 days through enemy territory, returned to Malaysia in 1946, and told his family none of it.
In mid-September, Teoh Hui Ching, a Malaysian-Chinese woman travelling in Kunming, Yunnan province, was walking along Xinwen South Road when she noticed photographs on a public display wall.
One of them was her maternal grandfather.
The wall is the Nanyang Volunteers History and Culture Wall, a public commemoration of overseas Chinese workers who supported China’s resistance against Japanese forces during World War II.
Kuang Jin Yuan, born in 1914 in Alor Setar, Malaysia, is among those honoured — his portrait shows a young man in what appears to be the uniform of the Kuomintang, the Nationalist party that led China’s wartime government and its resistance against Japan, his peaked cap and steady gaze frozen in a photograph that found its way onto a wall in Kunming, recognised at a glance, in a city he served, by a granddaughter who never knew his story.
Teoh posted a video of the moment on social media.
The clip recorded one million views within two days and drew 10,000 comments, as reported by Chinese state media Xinhua.
(Video: Facebook/Teo Hui Ching)
Kuang Was 25, Japan Had Seized Every Port, There Was One Road Left
In February 1939, the Overseas Chinese Relief Fund issued a call for young overseas Chinese with driving and mechanical skills to support China’s war effort.
Japan had seized all coastal ports.
The only remaining supply route into China ran through a road connecting Yunnan and Myanmar, completed by Chinese workers in 1938.
Kuang was 25; he answered the call, but he did not tell his mother.
His diary, recovered decades later, records his duties: repairing trucks on the road, rescuing vehicles that had gone over cliffs, and collecting military supplies scattered along the route.
In 1942, Kuang was besieged by Japanese soldiers for 18 hours; he broke out, and then walked for 24 days to reach Baoshan, Yunnan.
Two of his comrades did not survive the journey.
He returned to Malaysia in 1946 and passed away in 1993, at the age of 76.
Of the 3,200 volunteers who set sail from Penang on 18 May 1939, only 1,200 ever came home.
What His Family Knew
Nothing.
Kuang did not share his wartime experiences with his family.
Teoh noted in her video that the family became aware of this history only a decade ago, when volunteers from the Overseas Chinese Relief Fund visited their home to collect historical materials.
In a trunk containing Kuang’s belongings, the volunteers found photographs, diaries, and work certificates.
The trunk had been in the house the entire time.
Teoh’s video drew responses across mainland China.
“Highest salute to those overseas Chinese workers. We will always be grateful,” one commenter wrote.
“This is your home. Welcome back,” wrote another.
Teoh stated she plans to visit Lingbei Village in Taishan, Guangdong — her grandfather’s ancestral home — after Jiangmen Daily, a local newspaper, traced surviving clan members there following the video’s circulation.
Her grandfather’s story is also a reminder of why the Japanese occupation of Malaya was particularly brutal toward the Chinese community — Tokyo knew that overseas Chinese had funded and fought for China’s resistance, and when Japan’s forces arrived in Malaya in 1941, they came to collect.
