Chinese Blockade Mural - Air Itam, Penang, Malaysia.
N 05° 24.340 E 100° 16.966
47N E 642121 N 597656
Penang Chinese Relief Memorial features a large intricately detailed mural depicting relief aid & operations being carried out in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Located at Air Itam Memorial Park, Penang Island, Malaysia.
Waymark Code: WMW1NP
Location: Malaysia
Date Posted: 06/28/2017
Views: 1
The 10 feet x 60 feet long Bronze relief Mural. Shows Chinese workers manually working with spades & picks, building a road from Burma into China.
The center of the Mural shows a convoy of trucks driven by Chinese's volunteer drivers & mechanics, from Penang. Using the road to beat the blockade.
On the extreme right of the mural it shows, Japanese planes attacking small boats, in its effort to block all seaport's & rivers into China.
The three areas are all displayed against a background of the Map of China.
"The Penang Chinese Relief Memorial depicts the transportation volunteers sent to provide relief for China. They served as drivers and mechanics to transport material into China following the blockade of Chinese seaports by Japan. The relief effort is shown on a mural showing workers building the road between Burma and China and the convoy of trucks, & planes attacking the Chinese coast." Text Source:
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"Most of us are familiar with the story of the Japanese occupation during the World War Two, from 1941 to 1945. The local Chinese also called san-nee-pei-go-quai but not many are aware of it. the story of Nanyang Transport Volunteers,
Nanyang Transport Volunteers 1939-1946
In 1939, 3,200 young men from South-East Asia, historically was called Nanyang by Chinese, most were from Malaya, left their families and homes voluntarily to travel to China to work as drivers and mechanics during the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945. They left in 15 batches with 9 of 15 batches leaving from Singapore. The volunteers are called Nangiao ji gong or “overseas Chinese mechanics”.
These 3200 volunteers included Indian, Malay men and four Chinese women. They were responding to China Relief Fund’s call to sustain China’s war materials supply chain during the Sino Japanese War. The China Relief Fund or Nanyang Federation of China Relief Fund or Nangiao Chung Hui, an association founded on 10-10-1938 by 170 overseas Chinese representatives from the Nanyang region. Their objective was to coordinate regional relief work to support China against Japanese advancement. Mr.Tan Kah Kee was elected as the chairman. The regional headquarter of China Relief Fund was located in Ee Hoe Hean Club, Singapore.
On 7-2-1939, an announcement no. 6 issued by The China Relief Fund, calling all able Chinese mechanic and drivers to volunteer for relief work in China. The responses to the call was tremendous, many Chinese responded to the call and went for interview. The first batch selected consisted of 80 pioneers. They left Singapore on 19-2-1939, 11 days after the announcement. They were known as Nanqiao ji gong or “overseas Chinese mechanics”. The group however included both mechanic and drivers, Ji gong(??) means workers on the machinery or vehicle, which included both mechanics and drivers. The volunteers, consisted mainly Chinese from Nanyang, but also included Indians, Malays,Indonesians and Burmese. The sent off ceremony attended by many was the hot news in Singapore. The initial 80 was called Eighty Pioneer(????),who left on 18-2-1939, just a day before Chinese New Year. They made history for Nanyang Chinese. (Note: You can see the photo of the first batch Ji Gong at the official website of Ee Hoe Hean Club, (
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