July 9, 2026
KUALA LUMPUR – Lan Hongchun, director of the hit Teochew-dialect movie Dear You, took time out of his busy schedule last weekend to visit the Federated Teochew Associations of Malaysia, the umbrella body for all Teochew associations in the country, during the film crew’s promotional tour.
To celebrate the film’s massive success, Lan was treated to a feast of premium Musang King durians.
The gesture comes as Dear You crossed the RM15 million mark at the box office, officially making Malaysia its strongest overseas market outside of China and the top Chinese-language film in Malaysia for 2026.
Lan, together with lead cast members Wang Yantong (who plays Zheng Musheng) and Li Sitong (who plays the young Xie Nanzhi), visited Malaysia as part of the film’s promotional roadshow.
Reflecting on his connection to the country, Lan shared that he had first visited Malaysia seven years ago to shoot a documentary on Teochew food. At the time, he received a warm welcome from local clansmen in Northern Malaysia. That experience, he noted, provided the core inspiration for Dear You. He expressed his deep gratitude to the Malaysian Teochew community for their unwavering support.
Datuk Seri Wong Tze Shee, president of the Federated Teochew Associations of Malaysia, shared that he has watched Dear You five times and finds himself deeply moved in different ways each time.
Nationwide, a total of 36 Teochew associations have rallied behind the film, sponsoring a total of 53 public and private screenings and giving away approximately 10,000 complimentary movie tickets to clansmen.
The film’s poignant themes have resonated beyond just one dialect group; various other Chinese associations across Malaysia have also sponsored screenings. The movie’s depiction of Chinese migrant workers sending money and letters back to China is a history shared by many different dialect groups, striking a deeply emotional chord across the entire community.