On August 22, the Thai Puxian Association held the inauguration ceremony of its first council. Lin Jinzan, chairman of the Board of Directors of Meizhou Mazu Temple, led a delegation to attend the ceremony, jointly celebrating a new chapter for the overseas Puxian community and continuing the bond of Mazu's great love. More than 600 guests attended the ceremony, including Chuan Leekpai, former prime minister of Thailand and chairman of the conference; Sun Yantao, counsellor of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Kingdom of Thailand; Huang Zhenyao, member of the Standing Committee of the Putian Municipal Party Committee, head of the United Front Work Department, and president of the Putian Overseas Friendship Association; Dr. Lin Chuqin, chairman of the Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce; Dr. Huang Hanliang, acting chairman of the Thai Teochew Association; Su Chengzhi, chairman of the Federation of Thai Fujian Associations and chairman of the Thai Fujian Association; Lin Jinzan, chairman of the Board of Directors of Meizhou Mazu Temple; representatives of major overseas Chinese organizations in Thailand; and leaders of Puxian associations from China and abroad, including Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom. Together, they witnessed an important moment in the development of the Thai Puxian Association.
On August 22, the Thai Puxian Association held the inauguration ceremony of its first council. Lin Jinzan, chairman of the Board of Directors of Meizhou Mazu Temple, led a delegation to attend the ceremony, jointly celebrating a new chapter for the overseas Puxian community and continuing the bond of Mazu's great love. More than 600 guests attended the ceremony, including Chuan Leekpai, former prime minister of Thailand and chairman of the conference; Sun Yantao, counsellor of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Kingdom of Thailand; Huang Zhenyao, member of the Standing Committee of the Putian Municipal Party Committee, head of the United Front Work Department, and president of the Putian Overseas Friendship Association; Dr. Lin Chuqin, chairman of the Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce; Dr. Huang Hanliang, acting chairman of the Thai Teochew Association; Su Chengzhi, chairman of the Federation of Thai Fujian Associations and chairman of the Thai Fujian Association; Lin Jinzan, chairman of the Board of Directors of Meizhou Mazu Temple; representatives of major overseas Chinese organizations in Thailand; and leaders of Puxian associations from China and abroad, including Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom. Together, they witnessed an important moment in the development of the Thai Puxian Association.
To express the homesickness of overseas wanderers and carry forward Mazu's core spirit of compassion and helping the world, the Thai Puxian Association made a special trip to Meizhou Mazu Temple on August 18 to invite a branch-spirit Mazu statue to Thailand. In the solemn and sacred branch-spirit ceremony, the Mazu statue carried the blessings and protection of the ancestral place across the sea to Bangkok, Thailand, and was successfully and permanently enshrined at the Thai Puxian Association.
Chairman Lin Jinzan extended warm congratulations on the successful establishment of the Thai Puxian Association and the inauguration of its first council. He said that Mazu culture is a cultural treasure that crosses national borders and connects the world, and a shared spiritual bond for Chinese people at home and abroad. For a long time, countless overseas Puxian people have worked deeply in foreign lands while keeping their hometown in their hearts. They have consistently preserved their cultural roots, actively spread Mazu culture, told China's stories well, and made important contributions to people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries and to the development of their hometown.
The establishment of the Thai Puxian Association and the arrival and enshrinement of the Mazu statue have created a new platform for the dissemination of Mazu culture in the Thai-Chinese community. In the future, Meizhou Mazu Temple will continue to deepen regular exchanges and cooperation with the Thai Puxian Association, keep promoting the local dissemination and popularization of Mazu culture overseas, use culture as a medium and hometown ties as a bridge, strengthen connections among overseas Chinese at home and abroad, inherit the lineage of intangible cultural heritage, and help cultural exchange and people-to-people affinity between China and Thailand.
