Starting in 2016, the Hakka Affairs Council began carrying out the “Hakka Community and New Southbound Policy Collaboration Program” as part of Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy to increase cultural exchanges with countries in Southeast Asia. As part of the program, it sent members of Hakka groups and associations to Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Cambodia, where they visited Hakka villages. Through cultural exchanges, local cultural resource surveys, and two-way visits, it deepened cooperation between Taiwan and the Hakka settlements in Southeast Asia. Through the cultural connections between people and interactions among the communities in Hakka villages, a new partnership and cultural outlook that link Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries are developed.

In 2017, Taiwan’s Hakka pop musician and lead singer of the DaBangNi band, Liu A-chang (劉阿昌), went to several Hakka settlements in Malaysia as part of the HAC’s New Southbound Policy and met  with the famous local Hakka singer A Shuang (阿爽), whose real name is Yang You-cai (楊友財), for music exchange. Hakka musicians work hard to create in their respective countries. By creating and holding concerts, starting from the countries and cities of both sides, they can understand each other, learn from each other, integrate different cultures into their own life experience, and transform them into nutrients for creating Hakka pop songs.

Following in the footsteps of Liu A-chang, we can get a glimpse of three Hakka settlements in Malaysia.

Seremban City (芙蓉市)

Seremban is the capital of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. It is located in the southwestern part of the Malay Peninsula, less than an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur. It is an important satellite city of the Malaysian capital. In the 19th century, the Seremban area was just a small village. Because of the discovery of abundant tin mines, the Chinese at that time gradually moved in from Malacca. The current population is about 400,000, and at least 100,000 of them are Hakka. They are the largest ethnic group among the Chinese in Seremban. Most of the Chinese here are descendants of immigrants who were miners. The name of the city, Seremban, is related to the large number of Chinese who have migrated here to make a living. Its origin comes from a traditional game invented by the local Chinese called Batu Seremban, also known as Five Stones. It is now listed as an intangible cultural heritage by the Malaysian government.
​
​

Mantin Town (文丁鎮)

Mantin, Seremban’s nearest Chinese settlement, is located between Seremban and Kuala Lumpur. Its old name is Setul (or shadu - sand city in Mandarin). The name’s origin is related to tin mining. At that time, the tin mining industry here was booming. Everywhere, there were large amounts of mineral sand left by tin mining, and over time, this town became known as “sand city.” There were still some areas and road signs in Mantin Town that retained the word "Setul" until 1957 when Setul was renamed Mantin. Afterwards, Mantin's economy declined due to the gradual exhaustion of tin and the relocation of the mining operations. Many young people moved to Kuala Lumpur and other big cities to find jobs. Mantin is located on the only road from Seremban to Kuala Lumpur. In recent years, due to the convenient transportation provided by the highway, many foreigners working in Kuala Lumpur have been attracted to live in Mantin, which has led to the rapid expansion of the population and a real estate boom. As a result, the century-old Mantin, like many traditional settlements, faced the dilemma of development and forced eviction. Most of local residents moved out of Mantin, and only a few people remained in the Mantin Hakka village to safeguard their homes. To encourage the public to pay attention to the issue of preserving the one-hundred-year-old Hakka village, villagers organized the preservation movement for Mantin’s Hakka village.
​
​

Titi Town (知知港)

About 48 kilometers away from Seremban, Titi Town has an area of only 30 square kilometers. It was also a tin-producing area in the past. At that time, British miners recruited a large number of laborers, including Chinese, Indians, and Malays, to the area to develop tin mines here. Titi is a typical Hakka village. The local Hakka ancestors turned virgin forests into agricultural land. Therefore, the agriculture sector here is developed. It is most famous for producing pineapples, as well as good-quality bananas, papaya, durian and jackfruit. Titi is also the hometown of Chew Chin Yuin (邱清雲), a well-known Hakka singer in Malaysia in the 1970s.

​